The Stag and the Flower
by ReluctantSidekick
Summary: Harry is dumped, Fleur is neglected. The two decide to leave England for a holiday together. What comes from their decision will change their lives forever.
1. Chapter 1

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy this one. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

 _Well, this wasn't how I expected my engagement party to go._ Harry thought to himself as he watched the guests amble out. Ginny breaking it off at the party after screaming in his face and insinuating that he'd cheated on her with Tonks was not part of the plan. It was supposed to be a simple party, they'd announce their engagement to cheers, and their friends would have a nice dinner.

Instead, he had a bruised cheek, his ring back, and her rather furious promise that he would never see her again.

All because of a painting. He'd spent a good part of the reward he'd been given by Kingsley and the Wizengamot for stopping Voldemort on commissioning a painting of Remus and Tonks for the nursery he'd put in the renovated Grimmauld Place. _How is this proof I had sex with Tonks? It's both of them. Teddy deserves something to remind him of his mother and father._ He was glad that at the first shout of anger, Andromeda had swiftly taken Teddy and vanished back to her home. _If she'd stayed, Andromeda would have probably hexed her out of her boots._ He thought with a grin then frowned as the reality of what had happened hit him.

 _Now what?_ He asked himself as he walked out of the dining room and made his way upstairs.

Scene Break

Fleur Weasley was, to be completely honest, furious with her husband and his family. Bill was staying completely quiet as Ginny fumed, calling Harry every name she could think of except his own. "Can you believe he spent all that money to have their portrait painted? For what? For his 'godson'! Teddy wouldn't even have been around our kids, but there would've been Tonks and Professor Lupin's portrait in our house." Ginny had worked up a full head of steam and nothing short of a blown blood vessel would stop her.

"Of course Harry wanted Teddy to have something to remember his parents by. They both died making a world where he could grow up safe." Fleur had finally had enough of Ginny, and more to the point, of the Weasley family's refusal to challenge her.

"Oh shut it Phlegm, as if you'd know anything about a real relationship. All you had to do was put out and use your Allure and Bill was putty!" Ginny said, her face red with anger.

"How dare you! I have never used my Allure on Bill!" Fleur shouted, moving to stand face to face with the younger witch. Blue eyes locked on brown, and not a single Weasley moved to try and separate them.

"Oh so you just shagged him and got him to propose then? What'd you do, tell him you were pregnant?!" Ginny spat. Bill saw the feathers starting to appear on his wife's arms and finally moved to pull her back.

"Calm down the both of you. Fleur, I'm sure Ginny is just upset right now, she doesn't mean anything by it.." Bill said, trying to placate his wife, "Harry should have spoken with her first before spending all that money on a single painting."

"Why is that William?" Fleur asked, making her husband wince as she used his full first name, "Why would he have to tell Ginny what he planned on doing with his own money?"

"I was going to be his wife, it was our money!" Ginny retorted angrily, "He had no right to spend that kind of money. If he thinks he's ever going to see me again, it'll be after he sells that painting for every knut he got it for..."

This was going nowhere and Fleur knew it. "I have had enough of your little temper tantrum, I am going home. Are you coming, Bill?" She asked her husband.

When Bill didn't answer right away, Fleur drew her wand and apparated away. But not to Shell Cottage. She wanted to check on Harry first.

Scene Break

Harry heard the soft knock on his door and went to see who it was. Opening it, he smiled and allowed his guest into the house, "Fleur, I'm surprised you came back to see me...did you forget something?" He asked as she stepped past him.

"Non. I was concerned about you Harry. When I left the Burrow, Ginny was still raging, she believes that-" Fleur said, only to be stopped by Harry who held his hand up.

"That I was cheating on Ginny with Tonks?" He was surprised when she shook her head.

"Non, I think that was a heat of the moment sort of thing...she believed that the money you spent on the painting was hers as well as yours," Fleur said quietly, Harry had poured a glass of wine and handed it to her, she accepted as he poured his own drink.

Harry sighed, "Yeah, that sounds about right. 'Yours is ours, ours is ours, and mine is mine'..." He frowned and sat down on the couch, "Knowing the Weasleys, I get the feeling that you'll be the only one coming to see if I'm alright..." He took a sip of his wine, Fleur could see how miserable he was at that idea.

Fleur thought, "Molly is convinced that you will give the painting to Andromeda and apologize to Ginny, Arthur is being quiet as usual, George might come to see you or send an owl, he didn't return to the Burrow.." She sat down beside him, "I'm glad Andromeda left, she would have shown Ginny just how related she was to Lestrange." She sipped her own wine after that, watching Harry's expression change.

Harry laughed at that, "I actually thought the same thing..." Then he grew serious, "I don't care what she thinks. I'm keeping the painting and if that means that I won't be married to Ginny, then I won't be married to Ginny."

Fleur nodded, "That may be best..." She sighed and looked at her hands and then over to him, "I worry that someday soon, I'll be the one facing the Weasley firing squad.." She confessed, "Bill never defends me when his mother insults my housekeeping or my cooking. he never defends me when Ginny calls me 'Phlegm'...he never defends me."

"That's what made you come to see me, isn't it? You're wondering what it would look like if it was you sitting alone after he stormed out?" Harry asked.

She nodded miserably, "Ginny accused me of using my Allure to get Bill to marry me." She looked over to Harry, "She accused me of sleeping with him first as well...why does she hate me so much?"

Harry sided and put his hand over hers squeezing it gently, Fleur looked up at him and he smiled, "Ginny is..I think jealous of you. You're beautiful, brilliant, better with charms than almost anyone I've ever met...You're this glamorous woman and worst of all, you caught her eldest brothers eye. She is the baby of the family, she had every one of them wrapped around her finger from the time she could crawl according to Ron.."

Fleur flushed softly at the compliments he'd paid her, "I remember how she used to glare at me after the second task. When I kissed you and Ron..." She said with a little smirk, "I think she hated me from that moment...I kissed you first..."

Harry chuckled and released her hand, "She used to be that way around Hermione too...she accused me of wanting to sleep with her a few times...can you imagine? Hermione's my best friend, it would be like sleeping with my sister...that's the same thing that made me so angry when she said that about Tonks.." His smile vanished then, "I loved her...Ginny I mean...well I mean I do love Hermione and I loved Tonks too, but of the three women I really only ever saw myself with Ginny.."

"May I ask why?" Fleur said quietly, "Hermione is one of your closest friends, and I know that Tonks was a bit older, but six years is not so much..."

Harry shrugged, "It's not her age. Tonks was just...she was so in love with Profe- with Remus that no one else stood a chance..." He shook his head softly, "as for Hermione? I don't know, I mean we had a moment in the forest when we danced together, but...I don't know the spark was just not there."

"You truly love Ginny don't you?" Fleur asked softly. The look on her friend's face tore at her heartstrings. Harry Potter, for as little as they saw each other after the Tri-Wizard Tournament, was still her closest friend in England. She had been a poor friend to him, she mused, vowing to spend more time with him.

"I did. But, after tonight? I don't know Fleur...how can I love someone who acts like everything I do is supposed to be for her benefit and no one else?" Harry asked, draining his wineglass in a single gulp, "Teddy is my godson, and he will always be in my life. He deserves to see his parents..."

"Perhaps you could give the portrait to Andromeda.." She offered. Harry looked over to her and smiled softly.

"She has her own, that's why it was so expensive. It was a matched set. Tonks and Remus can see him from either house," He shrugged, "It was the least I could do..."

The pair continued to speak until the clock chimed three times. Fleur swore and rose to her feet, "I must get home. I am on leave from Gringotts for the next three weeks, may I come back over later?" She asked him, drawing a smile from Harry.

Harry nodded, "Of course. If Bill says anything, just tell him the truth, you came to check on me and we sat up far too late talking...if he doesn't believe you send him to me, I'll take an Oath if he needs it."

Scene Break

Fleur arrived home to find Bill snoring on their bed. Shrugging out of her clothes, she crawled in bed beside him. Sleep did not come easily tonight. She was still angry. _He wasn't waiting on me..there was no note, nothing!_

She lay there, staring at the ceiling until the first rays of sunlight began to filter into the bedroom. Bill rose without looking at her and made his way into their washroom. Fleur heard the hiss of hot water and turned her back to the door. The last thought she had before she finally fell asleep was that Harry would have been waiting on her.

 _This was a dream she'd had once or twice before after the Tournament. Harry coming out of the water, carrying Gabrielle in his arms while Ron sputtered beside him. She'd kissed Harry on the cheeks, thanking him profusely when it happened in the waking world._

 _But in the dream world?_

 _Here, the crowds melted away and she kissed him deeply. Her arms went around him, Gabrielle sliding nearly forgotten onto the ground. The kiss broke long enough for some panting breaths and then they were back at it._

" _Be mine." He whispered against her lips._

 _And she was._

Much later in the afternoon, Fleur awoke trying to understand why she'd had that dream again. She sat up, swinging her legs over the mattress, hissing with slight discomfort as her bare feet touched the cool wooden floor. _Why we cannot have carpeting, I will never understand...I had a lovely warm carpet back home at this place I will have to invest in either warming charms on the floor or a pair of slippers and I hate slippers..._

She groused silently as she made her way into the bathroom. Bill had left for work without waking her, an act that she should consider his usual practice, but for some reason angered her today. _I am still angry that he did not defend me against Ginny..._ She reasoned as she stepped into the shower and let the hot water spray onto her body.

Fleur was angry, pure and simple. She was angry at every member of her husbands family. _That tears it!_ She thought _I am leaving for some time away before I go mad!_ She left her shower well earlier than normal and began to dry herself off. As she did, she began to plan out this trip.

France was out, she knew they couldn't afford an international portkey. She would have to stay in England unless she wanted to take a muggle transport.

Now that idea had some merit. Perhaps she could take out a small advance on her salary, convert it to pounds and use that. With the exchange rate, a few galleons would be plenty of muggle money for the trip.

She dressed in muggle attire and grabbed her wand, apparating to the staff entrance of Gringotts.

Scene Break

Fleur made her way out to the customer lobby with a scowl marring her otherwise beautiful features. She couldn't get an advance from the payroll office, she had to ask for a loan. _Greedy Goblins...they want to make sure they get their interest on the three galleons I wanted to borrow._

The scowl vanished as she saw a familiar face in line, "Harry, what are you doing here?" Fleur asked as she moved to stand beside him at the end of the line.

"Putting the engagement ring back in my vault and I want to set up a trust vault from the Black account for Teddy." Harry told her, "What brings you here?" Harry was surprised to see Fleur in a plain light yellow sundress and sandals rather than her usual light blue robes.

"I am...well I want to take a small loan out to take some time away from the Weasleys." Fleur admitted, "I was going to just take out an advance, but regulations decree that you have to make it a loan."

"Or you could just ask your incredibly wealthy friend to give you an advance." Harry pointed out with a wry smile on his face, "How much do you need?"

"I only wanted to take out three galleons and exchange it for Muggle money." She said, "I was planning to take a trip to France and see my family."

"In that case, you need more than three measly galleons." Harry said to her, "How about I give you fifty as thanks again for being the only Weasley who came back to see me?"

Fleur blushed, "Harry, that really is too much..."

He waved her off, "You're my friend. Someone should have some fun."

"Come with me then." Fleur didn't know where the idea came from, but once she'd said it, she couldn't get the idea out of her mind, "You were just left by the woman who claimed to love you. I have three weeks of leave, we can go see my family together and perhaps visit Paris...perhaps Beauxbatons as well."

"Well, Proudfoot did say that if I didn't use some of my vacation hours he was going to use a sticking charm to keep me in my chair..." Harry said, "Alright. I'll go to the Ministry and make the arrangements for my leave and then we can meet back at Grimmauld Place in two hours, will that work?"

Fleur leaned in and hugged him, "That will be perfect. I will spend the time here in the Alley." She patted the purse on her shoulder, "I already have my luggage with me."

He smiled, "Then come with me to the Ministry and we can leave from there." His smile was matched by her own and once his business was concluded, the pair left the bank to being their summer adventure.


	2. Chapter 2

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

Harry and Fleur made their way out of the Ministry an hour later. Harry had taken the leave his supervisor had practically been throwing at him for two months now. "So, I'm off for the next two weeks," Harry said, "what's the next part of the agenda?"

"While you were speaking to the Director, I made a list of places I want to take you." Fleur told him, "First, obviously, is my family manor in Toulouse." She drew out the scrap of paper she had scrawled a few destinations on. Harry stifled a laugh at her handwriting, _Fleur is the only person with handwriting worse than mine..._ he thought.

"Where else?" He asked her.

Fleur smiled, "Next is Beauxbatons, to get there, we will stop in Lourdes and I will show you the path. Finally, we can finish the trip to Paris, Maman and Papa gifted me a small flat when I turned eighteen, a bribe to try and lure me home I believe." She looked at him, "Is there anything you would like to add?"

"Isn't Euro Disney near Paris? He asked her after a moment.

Fleur nodded, "It is, but if you wish to go to that tacky monument to a cartoon mouse, I will find somewhere else to be." She said imperiously, drawing an outright laugh from Harry, "Is something funny?"

"Not a fan of theme parks?"

"Not this one. A three-thousand-year-old magical ruin was destroyed in the construction. If you do want to go there, make sure you don't mention it to anyone in France. You did well against a Dark Lord, but I don't think you'd do as well with an angry mob." She said, "Anyway, there is enough to do that you won't need to go there to stay amused."

The pair walked out, "The next question is how will we get there?" Fleur asked him, "International portkeys are far too short-term."

"I have an idea about that, after the war, Mr. Weasley and I worked on repairing Sirius' motorcycle. We can ride it." Harry said, "I don't mean 'fly' it either. I don't trust the invisibility booster that much."

"So we would take the Channel Tunnel then?"

Harry nodded, "It's cheaper than flying, and no one is going to ask how we managed to fit all of our things into two suitcases the size of an eggplant."

It was decided. The pair went to Grimmauld Place next from the Ministry. Harry went upstairs to pack while Fleur sat in the parlor. The portrait of Remus and Tonks had finally awoken and she was having an animated conversation with the two, bringing them up to speed.

"Ginny thought Harry and I were sleeping together? When? Was it when he was in school, or maybe when he was hiding in a forest for the entire winter?!" Tonks exclaimed, her hair turning red in anger.

Fleur held up her hand to placated the furious painting, "Ginevra is a very insecure person. In any event, it is over between them. Harry needs to get away, so do I for that matter, and we have decided to take a trip to France."

Tonks' hair shifted from annoyed red to amused blue, "Taking Harry out of the country? Why Mrs. Weasley, you sly thing." She teased, "In all seriousness, that will be good for the two of you."

"I think so." Fleur agreed, "in any event, Bill will be out of the country, so it was it either be bored at home or take my friend to see my homeland."

Harry came down with a tiny suitcase that he quickly put into his pocket, "I see you two are finally awake." He said with a smile, "Have you checked out the other frame yet?" Harry asked Tonks.

"We have. We went to see Mum and Teddy while you were out." Tonks said, "He was sleeping, but it was nice to see him."

"We can't thank you enough for this," Remus added, "Seeing our son grow up, even if it's this way," He put his arm around Tonks,"thank you, Harry."

"It's alright, Teddy deserves to have the both of you in his life, however I was able could arrange it." Harry told them, "I suppose you two will probably spend more time over at Andromeda's house?"

Tonks nodded, "I still might pop over every now and again while you are on your trip. No one notices paintings, so just in case one of the Weasleys decide to prank you, I'll be able to warn you." Tonks laughed and her hair shifted to purple for a moment before going back to blue, "When I broke it off with Charlie, I caught the twins trying to put hair removal potions in my chocolate frogs."

With that, Harry and Fleur said their goodbyes and went outside to the curb. There sat the motorcycle that had brought Harry to Privet Drive all those years ago. It had been years, but thanks to Mr. Weasley, it was back in proper shape after the 'Flight of Seven Potters', as Moody had called it.

Donning his helmet, Harry climbed on first, "Alright Fleur, climb on and hold on to my waist."

"You are sure this is safe?" She asked him cautiously eyeing the bike. Eventually, the eagerness she'd felt to see her family again overtook her cautiousness. She put on her own helmet and then climbed on, slim arms going around his waist. Harry turned the ignition and with a roar, the two were swiftly on their out to the roads leading out of London.

Scene Break

The miles slipped away from the pair as they reached the line for the Tunnel. "Merde," Fleur cursed softly, but not so soft that the enchantments on the helmets didn't catch it, "We will be here for hours."

Harry thought for a moment, then grinned slyly. "No, we won't." He turned the motorcycle and rode into a narrow alley.

"What are you doing?" Fleur asked him, "We'll be even later now."

Harry pulled a level on the side of the motorcycle as an answer. Fleur felt magic thrum through them and suddenly the alley was in a strange almost fish-bowl perspective to her. "Hold on tight, okay?" Harry said and then pushed another button. Suddenly, the motorcycle rose into the air and they began to fly. Fleur shrieked as Harry dodged a low-flying bird, causing him to laugh. She clung to him as he steered the motorcycle up and past the cars and then they were over the English Channel. "Got to love invisibility boosters. I was a little nervous that it wouldn't work, but I figure getting you out of that traffic was worth risking the Statue."

Fleur wanted to thump his helmet, but fearing that could cause them to drop into La Manche, she refrained. "We could have waited." She finally allowed herself to stay, "What if someone sees us?"

"There's a pretty strong notice-me-not on the bike. That was Hermione's idea when the booster is up, so is the notice-me-not. Basically, we have two types of invisibility. One that keeps people from seeing us, and one that keeps cameras from taking our picture." Harry explained, going lower and letting the spray just touch their feet. The chill water made her gasp and caused Harry to laugh.

Fleur was not at fault for the little shudder of delight that went through her as she felt Harry's laugh rumble against her body. She was, after all, holding on tightly to him just in case she fell to her death. "We can take the ferry next time then." She said, earning another laugh from Harry.

They touched down on the French side of the Channel a short time later. Just as they had left England, Harry steered them into a small alley before disengaging the invisibility and the notice-me-not. "That was fun." He said to her, "You sure you want to take the ferry next time?"

Fleur nodded and released him from the death grip she'd had on him as they had come in for their landing. "I believe we are in Calais." She told him after a moment.

"So where to first, you said your family home right?" Harry asked to which Fleur nodded.

"Oui, however, it is nine hours south. We may end up staying the night somewhere along the trip." Fleur said, "If we wish to avoid the traffic of Paris until we are there to stay, we can detour through Tours."

"As my lady wishes," Harry said, turning to face her. There was a boyish grin on his face and Fleur could tell that he had enjoyed the flight much more than she had, "We just need to get a map. You are brilliant, but I am not expecting you to have the entirety of France mapped out in your mind."

"Good, because I do not." Fleur replied with a smile, "We mostly used the floo or portkey to travel." She thought for a moment, "Harry, will you hand me your helmet please?"

Confused, Harry did as she asked. He watched her tap her wand and say something in French. Returning them, he put the helmet back on. "What did you do?" He asked her.

"A translation charm. Now you will be able to read the street signs, and understand French." Fleur told him, "It will keep me from having to constantly tell you where to go. Thanks to Ginevra, you've had enough of that already."

Harry laughed and steered the bike out onto the streets of Calais. It was a port town, and Harry watched as truck after truck made its way towards the ships at the water's edge. The city itself looked like it would not have been out of place in England with its row after row of buildings and red and white brickwork that gave it a somewhat timeless feel. "This is the sort of place where it could be the sixties or the year two-thousand and you wouldn't know if you didn't look at the cars going by," Harry said, grateful for the connection that existed between the helmets.

"Oui, I suppose being a port town you don't need to worry about any new businesses, so long as you have a steady stream of commercial traffic." Fleur replied, "If you see a corner shop, stop there and we'll get a map."

"I just remembered, we didn't stop and convert any of our money." Harry said, "Everything is in pounds."

"There is a currency exchange on the Rue Royale, it is a muggle business, but Gringotts does business with them as well." She told him, "Follow the road that leads away from the docks and we'll come to it." Harry nodded and followed her directions through the bustling streets.

Scene Break

A few hours later found them with a map, their pounds exchanged for francs and halfway to the city of Tours. Hunger had led them to pull off at a small village and parking at a cafe.

Fleur was very excited, this would be her first taste of French food in years. True, she cooked for herself when Bill was away, but this was different. "Welcome to Brionne, Harry." She told him as they got off the motorcycle.

"Have you been here before?" He asked her.

"Once, Beauxbatons took the fourth-year students to several ancient sites. After the destruction of the Norman runic circle when they created Euro Disney, it was decided that the old places should be remembered." Fleur told him. When they reached the door, she was pleasantly surprised when he held the door for her. Bill, she reminded herself, very rarely remembered to do that. _It's nice to be with a gentleman..._ She thought happily as they entered the cafe.

It wasn't terribly busy and so they were seated and given menus. Fleur chosen a light chicken salad and Harry, following her lead, did the same. "It's amazing how similar everything is to England." Harry mused, more to himself than to Fleur.

"It's France, not the moon." She pointed out with a wry grin, "People need to eat after all."

"Fair point." Harry allowed, "I don't know, I guess I kind of expected something fancier?"

The look in her eyes told him what he needed to know, _this place was hardly anyone's idea of fancy._ It was a small place, with only ten or twelve tables and the owner, chef, and waiter had all been the same portly man in his sixties. The only other employee was the hostess, an elderly woman that Harry guessed was the man's wife.

The food arrived alongside a pitcher of water with lemon and orange slices inside. Neither had eaten anything since before they'd left England and so the sandwiches and the water were looked at as nectar and ambrosia.

There was no conversation until each had finished the sandwich before them. "This was good. I didn't know how hungry I was." Harry said as he finished his glass.

"I agree," Fleur said, rising, "I will be back in a moment, I just wish to wash my hands." He watched her leave. He was pouring another glass when the old woman came over with the check.

"She is a very pretty one, your lady." She noted as she put down the slip of paper, "Have you been together very long?"

Harry laughed, "No," He said, "We aren't a couple. We are just on a trip together. We've known each other though for about five years."

The old woman looked at Harry for a moment before taking his money. She didn't say anything else. But it was clear that she didn't quite believe him.

Fleur returned then and the pair departed the cafe. As they rode off the woman watched them drive off and then turned to her husband, "Do you think they expect me to believe that two people that comfortable with each other are just friends?" She asked him.

Her husband merely laughed and went to clean the table, "Marie, we are not here to act as matchmakers or to comment on the lives of our customers." He said to his wife, "If they aren't a couple then so be it if they will be one later then so be that."

"You have no sense of romance Henri, what if this was the moment they needed to push them into admitting their love?" Marie said, "All of our children are married and gone, I like the idea of helping one more couple find their way."

On the motorcycle and thankfully a few miles away now, Harry and Fleur continued on their way to Tours. There they would stay the night and then early in the morning, would continue their trip to Toulouse and the Delacour home.

"Welcome home Fleur," Harry said as they reached the highway once more, "It's a beautiful country."

He felt Fleur squeeze his midsection gently, "Merci Harry, it feels wonderful to be back."


	3. Chapter 3

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts.

 _Toulouse is a beautiful place_ , Harry thought as the motorcycle brought them around the last curve. Behind him, he could practically feel the smile on Fleur's face as she looked at the city she'd called home for so long. "This place is amazing Fleur," Harry said through the helmet, "It's so beautiful."

"Thank you," Fleur said as Harry steered into the main traffic of the city. "It's so good to be home, the way to my family home is near the Cathedral of St Stephen." She said pointing towards the turn he needed to make with a free hand, her other holding onto him tightly.

Fleur smelled like vanilla and honey, Harry noticed when her arm went up to his left and then immediately chastised himself. _Come on Potter, she's your friend and she's married._ He shook his head and the traitorous thoughts inside it and sped along the road.

Fleur, in her excitement at seeing the familiar streets, had scarcely noticed that she had pressed herself so tightly against Harry's back. When he swerved to avoid a car veering into their lane, she gasped and leaned back slightly. "Are you alright?" Harry's voice crackled in her ear.

"I am fine," She said, "That car scared me a bit." She admitted to him. "Would you mind if we stopped for a moment before we finished the trip?"

"Sure, I'll pull in by this park," Harry said, indicating a small public space off the road on their right. He pulled the motorcycle off into a parking spot and the two climbed off.

"Will you walk with me?" She asked him quietly, "I used to dream about coming to a place like this with someone. My heritage meant that I didn't have many friends. The boys were, well you know, and the girls didn't appreciate the way the boys looked at me." It had been a very lonely childhood until Gabrielle was born. Her little sister had been her only friend for most of her life. _And then I came to England and met Harry..._ She thought with a smile as she impulsively took his hand and lead him into the park.

 _This is nice_...She thought as they walked together. Free of the pressures of his role as a war hero, in a place where he wasn't the most recognizable man in the city, it was easy to just imagine the two as any ordinary couple out for a stroll. _But we aren't..._ She thought as her thoughts turned melancholy. _We are not a couple, I am a married woman. I shouldn't be imagining Harry like this. I had that chance and I threw it away._

It would have been easy, during the Tournament, to introduce herself to him and apologize properly for her behavior on the night their names were chosen. But that would have hinged on her knowing that he was a good man. She had been so convinced, as most had at the time, that he had entered for glory.

Then she'd watched as he out-flew the largest of the four dragons. When she was attacked by the grindylows, he'd rescued Gabrielle, earning a place in both girls hearts forever in the process. During the final year of the war, she'd seen him become the man she'd secretly knew he was meant to be. A hero, and if she was honest with herself, he was her hero, just as he had been when he'd emerged from the lake with her little sister.

"Hey look, that old man is selling lemonade," Harry said, taking her from her thoughts and pointing at a stand in the center of the park.

"You are close, it is 'citron presse', it is very close to lemonade. It is just lemon juice with water and sugar added." Fleur said to him. "The difference is that you add everything to taste rather than it being premixed."

"But how do you get the sugar to mix into the water when it's cold?" Harry asked her, "That's like when the yank from MACUSA got upset that we didn't have what he called 'sweet tea'." The American envoy had argued that you couldn't properly make sweet tea if the beverage was served to him cold and unsweetened. It needed to be brewed hot so that the sugar dissolved and then chilled, he'd told them, otherwise it was 'dirty water with sugar at the bottom'.

"Trust me. It works fine. When I was a little girl if I was feeling ill, my parents would sneak medicine into my presse." Fleur told him smiling at the memory. Fleur had been a stubborn child at four years old. Worse had been when she was two and had decided that clothes were evil and that she wouldn't wear them. Tugging his hand, she led him towards the stand.

Harry swore that the mustachioed man behind the stand looked familiar, but he couldn't place it. "Two please." He said, still trying to figure out why he felt as if he'd seen this man before.

"You wouldn't prefer one big one with two straws?" The man said winking and then outright laughing as they both turned slightly red at the thought. Still chuckling to himself, the man turned away from them and prepared the cups for them. "Here you are," he said, setting the cups down, "the lemon juice is in the tank and the sugar is on the table with the napkins." When Harry reached into his wallet, the old man held up his hand, "no, you earned it by making an old man smile. Enjoy your day."

They both thanked the old man and prepared their drinks to their liking. As they walked Fleur took a pull of hers and then made a face. "Ah, too sour still, I should have added more sugar." She said and then without thinking, she took Harry's and drank some. "That is much better." She said, handing him back her own cup and keeping his.

Scene Break

Tonks had done as she'd told Harry. She'd spent most of her time so far in Teddy's nursery watching her son. But, she had been an auror and the idea of his home being completely empty with the exception of Kreacher didn't sit well with her.

When she arrived back at Grimmauld Place, she'd found her portrait moved. It had been placed facing up at the ceiling by someone. She listened carefully as she heard muffled footsteps and then a voice. "Shut up you little shit! I want to leave Harry something to apologize for how I acted and I don't want you touching it." It was Ginny Weasley, Tonks realized, _that little mini-harpy is here...but why?_

"Master does not want anything from you." Tonks heard Kreacher reply and then Ginny scoffing.

"Where is he? He's normally home by now." _C'mon Kreacher, show that shitty attitude we all know and hate!_ Tonks thought, _Don't tell her anything._

Apparently, he hadn't told her anything at all. Tonks heard the pop of House Elf apparition and then Ginny stomped out of the kitchen. Tonks saw the edge of her leg as she stood near the frame. In her hand was a wine bottle which she set on the mantle with a small note.

Tonks didn't trust this at all. As soon as she heard Ginny apparate with a loud and unskillful crack, Tonks went back to the frame in her mother's house. Remus was watching Teddy sleep peacefully in his crib. "Is something the matter Dora?" He asked his wife.

"Maybe. Ginny left a bottle of wine for Harry." Tonks said, her hair turning to an annoyed shade somewhere between red and orange. "I want Mum to go and check on it."

"She went to lay down while Teddy takes his nap." Remus replied, "I'm sure whatever it is will keep."

"No, she needs to check on this now." Tonks said, looking at her son she frowned for a moment, "Sorry about this Teddy, hopefully, any night terrors coming from this will be easily fixed." Tonks drew in a breath and shouted at the top of her painted lungs, "OI, MUM!"

That woke Teddy, whose hair turned bright red as he began screaming. Andromeda burst into the room with her wand drawn, "What's wrong?" She asked her heart beating so loudly in her chest that she was sure the painted couple could hear it.

"Sorry for scaring you, but I needed to get your attention. Ginny just left a bottle of wine at Harry's place. I don't trust that ginger bint any farther than I could throw her." Tonks said, "You are keyed into the wards, will you go over there and check it out?"

"Nymphadora, I could have done that at any point." Andromeda said, "I had just gotten the house quiet." She sighed softly, "But I will still go and see if it's just wine in the bottle or something else." She went to the crib and looked into it, "Will you two be alright to keep an eye on him while I apparate over to Grimmauld Place?"

Remus nodded, but Tonks shook her head, "I'm going with you." She told her mother, "I was a trained Auror." She vanished from the frame, clearly waiting on her mother to apparate.

"I'll keep an eye on him, Andi," Remus said, "Go make sure his godfather will have his free will." Andromeda nodded and vanished with a soft crack.

Andromeda arrived in the foyer of Grimmauld Place and looked up at the blank space where the portrait of her miserable aunt Walburga Black had sat. One of the first things he'd done upon moving into Grimmauld Place was to offer the portrait a choice; go to Narcissa Malfoy or he would use the strongest paint thinners he could find to remove her. She hadn't believed it at first, and that was why the painting now had a streak of blank canvas going from the bottom to her shoulder. After that, she had very quickly instructed Kreacher to undo the charm and she elected to spend the rest of her days at Malfoy Manor.

Tonks was waiting in her frame, "Would you mind setting me back up? Ginny moved my frame while I was at your house." Once righted, she smiled at her mother, "Thanks Mum, that's much better. I didn't feel like making sure anyone else was wearing Friday's knickers on a Monday."

Kreacher appeared before Andromeda, "Another trespasser in the home of Master Potter..." He muttered, "What do you want?"

"Charming as ever." Andromeda replied bluntly, "I am merely here to inspect the bottle of wine left by Ginny Weasley."

"Bottle is gone! Kreacher won't allow Master Potter to be tricked with potions!" Kreacher replied glaring at her. "Kreacher destroyed it."

"Damn it. We need that bottle so we can prove she tried to give Harry a potion." Tonks fumed from her frame, "Kreacher, the next time she brings over anything at all, keep it. Let us find out and then Mum, you can call for the Aurors."

Scene Break

Having finished their drinks, Harry and Fleur found a bench beside a small fountain in the park and sat down. "So, what are your plans when we return?" She asked him as they watched the water flow.

"I don't know. I'll go back to work I guess." He leaned back against the bench, "To be honest being an Auror isn't as great as I thought it would be. They seem more interested in using me as a figurehead rather than letting me go out and help people."

"I am unsure what I will do," She admitted, "William and I need to have a long talk about the way he behaves around his family." Fleur matched his action and leaned back on the bench, "As for your problem, you are Harry Potter, the hero of our world. You are a figurehead, proof that no matter how powerful evil can be, it can be beaten." Fleur said to him, "It may not be exciting, but it is important."

"I don't want exciting, but I just wish it felt like I was doing something." He ran a hand through his hair, "I want to feel like I'm more than a trophy to be paraded in front of the visiting dignitaries."

"I understand that I really do," Fleur said, garnering a smile from the wizard.

Harry looked at her, "I know you do. I'm not trying to pretend that my being everyone's hero is the same as people treating you like just a pretty face." He chuckled softly, "This is our vacation and I'm feeling sorry for myself."

"Emotions are a powerful thing," Fleur said putting her hand on his, "Feeling trapped hurts." She wasn't sure at that moment if she was talking to him or her.

A woman's voice interrupted her contemplation, "Good afternoon, would you like to purchase a rose for your lovely lady?" Beside Harry on his left side was an old woman carrying a small basket of flowers. "Beautiful roses, picked this morning. The dew is still upon them."

"We aren't-"

Fleur began only to be interrupted by Harry, "I'll take one, thanks." A transaction later and Fleur was looking at a beautiful bright red rose.

"Harry, you didn't have to-"

Again, she began and again she was interrupted. "I wanted to, because of you I'm in this beautiful place, a place I'd never have been to otherwise." He said to her. Blushing Fleur brought the rose up to her nose and inhaled its fragrance.

The old woman walked back from them and towards the stand, her husband had erected earlier. "You see Henri, just as I said, they are destined to be together." She said smugly, "He bought her a rose without even a second thought."

"You are right dear," The old man said to his wife, "She stole his presse because she'd made hers too sour 'accidentally'." He looked at her for a moment then laughed, "That reminds me of someone."

"Hush you fossil." Was her reply and when he laughed again, he had to swiftly duck a flung washcloth.

She straightened herself up, "In any case, if I am right, they need each other. I overheard them talking. He feels useless and she is resentful towards her in-laws."

Henri nodded, "So, you wish to continue to follow Harry Potter and his lady friend?" When his wife gave him a look that stated very plainly that yes she did and he should know that, Henri reached into his sleeve and drew out a small pearwood wand and began to pack everything into a small case. "In that case, we will continue to follow and observe."

Marie drew out a wand of polished hickory and began to disable to muggle repelling charms they had placed on the small park. It had been chance that had brought Harry and Fleur into the small cafe they were using as a means of passing a few quiet years now that the current Dark Lord was gone and no new ones had taken his place thus far. She had managed to place a small tracking charm on his motorcycle as the couple had eaten their meal. Her husband had his experiments and projects to keep him busy, but for Marie, she preferred matchmaking.

 _So, until Mr. Potter notices the charm, or they have realized they need each other, I will keep an eye on them._ She thought with a smile as she watched Fleur sniff her rose again, _This will be fun._


	4. Chapter 4

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

They arrived at the boundary to the Delacour estate in the late afternoon. Harry had never seen a place quite like it. The closest thing, he supposed, was the Malfoy Manor, but this was a comfortable home and not some oppressive manor meant to intimidate visitors. The Delacour home was surrounded by a low wall of white stones with a ridge of warm red stone on the top. Behind the wall, Harry saw a long row of hedges and finally peeking out over the top, he saw the house itself. "It's beautiful," He said quietly to Fleur.

"It's home." She said equally quietly. It was true, Shell Cottage was a good enough place to live with Bill, but this was the place that her soul called home. She smiled idly as she watched a small brass-colored bird flit from the hedges to the stonework. "Bonjour Maurice." She called, watching the bird fly back towards the house. "Maurice was a present from my grandpere. He is keyed into the wards and will let my parents know that we are here."

"What is he?" Harry asked, "Is he a familiar?"

"No. Maurice is made of brass and silver. Grandpere Emil was a Master Enchanter and over the two years my parents courted each other, he spent that time crafting him." Fleur replied.

Harry slowly steered the motorcycle onto the property as the gates opened and then closed behind them. Standing at the door of the manor were the Delacours. Jean-Luc and Apolline stood beside the now fourteen-year-old Gabrielle and in the girl's arms was a slightly squirming baby.

"I didn't know you had another sibling." Harry said, "Who's that?"

"I don't know. Maman or Papa would have told me if I had a new brother or sister." Fleur replied as they climbed off of the motorcycle and made their way to greet her family.

Apolline hugged her eldest child, "It's so good to see you," she said when the embrace broke, "Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

"I didn't know we were. I knew that I was going to visit but Harry and I left before I had time to say anything." Fleur said to her mother, "We arrived yesterday and spent in the night in Tours."

"Did you now?" Apolline said after a moment. She looked over at Harry and then presented her hand for him to shake, "It's good to see you again Mr. Potter."

"You too ma'am." Harry said, "It was my fault we didn't send word. My house isn't set up for international floo calls and the Ministry wouldn't approve of me using my fame to borrow theirs." That reply earned a slim white-blond eyebrow to raise.

"I'm sure they wouldn't," Apolline said to the younger man. "In any event, there is plenty of room for the two of you. Fleur, you still have your bedroom in the East Wing of course, but Harry you will have the suite in the West Wing."

That surprised Fleur. _Normally guests stayed in the suite between her bedroom and Gabrielle's bedroom._ She thought as they went inside, _Does Maman believe there is something between Harry and me?_

Ignorant of Fleur's musings, Harry looked at Gabrielle and the baby she was holding. "So, who is this?" He asked.

"This is my little cousin Alain." Gabrielle said proudly, "His parents are in Paris for a conference so he is staying with us." Alain babbled happily in her arms earning a smile from Gabrielle.

"So, what brought you to France?" Apolline asked him, "The last we heard you were marrying Ginevra Weasley."

Harry frowned slightly, "Ginny and I aren't together anymore. At our engagement party, she tried to force me to choose between her wishes and doing what is right for my godson. I refused so she gave me back the ring."

"She also gave him a bruised cheek." Fleur said, the memory causing a frown on her face. "William was right there and said nothing!"

Apolline didn't say anything else about it. Instead she stopped them at the splitting off point between the two wings, "Gabrielle, will you please take Harry on a tour of the grounds? I want to catch up with Fleur, it seems things in England have gotten rather more interesting than I believed."

Gabrielle and Fleur both knew that tone of voice. This was the 'I want to know precisely what you are doing and why you believe it is a good idea' voice. The last time Fleur had heard it was when she was telling her parents she planned on moving to London. This was not a tone that allowed for debate.

For a moment it seemed like Harry would turn and walk away, but he didn't. "Is something wrong ma'am?" He asked Apolline, "You seem upset. If you'd prefer I can go back to Toulouse and get a hotel."

"Nonsense!" Said Mr. Delacour, "You are our Flowers friend and have brought her home so this is your home as well." He seemed, to Harry's mind at least, completely untroubled by the look his wife had on her face. "I'll accompany you and Gabrielle on the tour of the grounds, I'd love to get a better look at the motorcycle you have."

Fleur had a helpless look on her face and Harry wanted to stay, but Gabrielle shifted the baby Alain and tugged his arm down the hall leaving the eldest Delacour women alone at the meeting point between the two wings of the house. "Harry Potter is not your husband." Apolline said slowly, her voice deathly calm. "Would you care to explain why the first time you've come back to your home it was with your sister in law's former fiance?"

"If it wasn't for Harry I wouldn't have been able to come at all." Fleur said, "I wanted to get away, but I didn't want Bill to know where I was going." _Not that my husband would have noticed. Judging by the fact that they didn't know I was coming I can assume he didn't care enough to see if I'd spoken to them._ She thought sadly. "I need time away from Bill and the Weasleys. The fight between Harry and Ginny made me very unhappy with my in-laws and my husband. When I defended Harry, Ginny turned her anger on me, Bill refused to defend me."

Fleur turned to the window that looked out over the grounds. She saw Harry showing the motorcycle to her father and smiled faintly. The smile was not missed by Apolline though she said nothing. "Harry dropped everything to come with me to France." She said softly, "He is a good man and a good friend, and I will not have you insult him." She said turning to her mother, "If you cannot be polite to him, then we will end our time in Toulouse early."

Apolline looked at her daughter for a moment and then nodded, "Very well." She said before raising a slender eyebrow, "You seem very protective of the young man." Apolline said to her daughter, "Why is that?"

"Because he deserves it," Fleur said simply.

Outside Harry had agreed to show Mr. Delacour how to operate the motorcycle. "It's simple enough sir, the enchantments on the bike handle balance, all you have to do is control the speed and the direction." Harry indicated the controls and then laughed, "Just don't pull the little black lever in the center there. Not unless you feel like flying that is."

"It can fly?" Gabrielle said in amazement, "Papa, hold Alain so that Harry can take me flying!"

Laughing fondly at his daughter, he did as she asked. Harry sat down on the bike, "Alright Gabrielle, just hold on, okay?" As he felt a near death grip from the excitable teenager, Harry knew that wasn't going to be an issue. Gabrielle gave a loud shriek of excitement as the bike sped up and then with a bang began to rise into the air.

Fleur was sitting in her old bedroom when she heard it. Going to the window she smiled at the sight of Gabrielle clutching Harry tightly as he took her above the treeline. For some reason, she couldn't shake the image of Harry doing the same with a girl a bit younger, perhaps three or four. In her mind, she saw the child sitting in front of Harry so she could lean against her father's chest.

Fleur didn't know why her heart clenched at the idea, or if she did know why she didn't want to think about it. _Maybe this was a mistake..._ She thought sadly _Maybe I should have been more patient with Bill. I'm imagining Harry with a blonde daughter for Maeve's sake._

Fleur was a smart witch, she knew for example when she'd made mistakes. Going with Roger Davies to the Yule Ball at Hogwarts had been one. Another had been when she'd allowed Ginny to get away with calling her Phlegm. Had she made a mistake coming to France with Harry, or had the real mistake been something else? She tried to imagine Bill standing up to her mother, or taking Gabrielle for a ride like Harry was doing. She couldn't see either of those and it bothered her. Were they Bill's shortcomings, or was she seeing Harry through rose-colored glasses?

She sat down on her bed and tried to ignore the feeling that it was the first part and not the second.

Apolline Delacour made her way to her husband's side. Taking the baby from him, she looked up where she heard Gabrielle shouting in excitement as the motorcycle soared above them. "Jean-Luc Sebastian Delacour, if something happens to her, I will make sure that you sleep in the stables for the rest of your life."

He laughed softly, "Harry has saved our youngest once, I don't think he'd fail her this time."

"You like him don't you?" Apolline asked quietly, her eyes locked on the motorcycle that was now speeding into a corkscrew pattern before flying towards the vineyard at the edge of the property.

"I do." He nodded, "Harry Potter is a remarkable young man. An orphan who lost nearly everything and ended up saving the world. I don't like imagining what would have happened should that Dark Lord had won and turned his attention to France." It wasn't just what would have happened to France that worried Mr. Delacour, it was also the little girl up on the motorcycle. Fleur was old enough and skilled enough that he was certain she could have escaped or would have died to fight, but Gabrielle was far too young.

Apolline didn't say anything. Her husband's words were correct. Had Harry Potter failed, the world would have been a very dark place indeed. "I don't like that the first man she brings home isn't her husband." She said after a moment, "Shouldn't it have been Bill Weasley?"

"Perhaps," Jean-Luc said quietly, "but I'm happy enough to have her here that I don't really care who brought her."

Harry landed the motorcycle and Gabrielle hopped off. She rushed over to her parents speaking rapidly enough that even if the translation charm hadn't begun fading from his helmet he wouldn't have been able to keep up. "I need to ask Fleur to reapply a charm, I'll be right back." He said before walking up to the house.

"Fleur's bedroom is beside the East Wing library," Jean-Luc said in accented English. Harry thanked him and hurried towards the Manor with his helmet under his arm.

Fleur was at her mirror combing her hair when she heard the knock, "Entrez." She called out, not turning to face the door. The door slowly opened and Harry stepped inside. He came to her side, "Harry, is something wrong?"

"No, I just wanted to ask if you could reapply that translation charm for me." Harry said offering her the helmet, "I know your family is good enough to speak English around me, but when we are riding I'll need it."

She nodded taking her wand from where it sat beside her makeup case and tapping it to his helmet. "I will reapply it when we leave as well." She handed it back, "Maman doesn't like you here I'm afraid." She admitted quietly.

She sighed, "She believes that I should have-"

"Came here with Bill?" Harry finished for her. She nodded and motioned for him to follow her to the bed where they sat down.

"She's not wrong." Harry said after a moment, "I'm not your husband. We are just friends." He turned the helmet over in his hands, "But that doesn't mean she has the right to be cross."

Fleur sighed and unconsciously leaned into his side, "You are taking the fact that my mother is upset very well." She said quietly, "Thank you for being gracious regarding it. I do not know if Bill would do the same."

"Weasley temper, I get it," Harry said, earning a wan smile. Harry returned it and took her hand in his. "I'm not going to cause a fight between you and your mother. If something happens, I'll just go back to Toulouse and get a hotel room."

"I promise you, if you had to get a hotel, that would be the cause of the fight and not anything you'd have done or said," Fleur told him. "We will give her some time and if she cannot be polite then we will continue then we will say our goodbyes and depart for Paris."

Harry and Fleur sat there in silence for another moment. Then Fleur spoke again, "You looked very natural taking Gabrielle up on that motorcycle." She told him, "I'm sure she enjoyed it."

"She did." He said smiling, "That's how I knew the charm was fading. She was telling me to go faster and then she said 'C'est marrant'." She giggled at his butchering of the words. "What is it?" He asked her.

"It's pronounced like this ' _C'est Marrant'_." She told him, enunciating the words for his benefit. For some reason, those words in her accent were possibly the most alluring words Harry had ever heard. "Try it again, we'll see if I can't make a proper Frenchman out of you," Fleur said teasingly.

" _C'est Marrant,"_ Harry said earning a brilliant smile from the woman. He felt the warmth of her hands in his own and squeezed them gently.

"Bon. Again please." Fleur said, leaning in slightly without really noticing she'd done it.

" _C'est Marrant,"_ Harry repeated, doing his best to mimic the way Fleur had said it. Suddenly all Harry could see was the blonde of her hair and the blue of her eyes as he realized how close they were to each other.

Blue met green and for some reason that neither witch nor wizard could explain, all either wanted to do was kiss each other. It was nearly overwhelming, the urge to forget everything and kiss each other. After a moment of hesitation, they did just that.

Neither knew when the kiss broke, if it was a moment or a lifetime.

"I- I should go," Harry said hurriedly, standing and departing the room and leaving Fleur to her own thoughts as guilt took up its residence in both their minds.

Outside the fair blue sky began to dim as a summer storm made its way over the grounds of the Delacour Manor. As the rain and darkness settled it, it made a fitting mirror to the mood that settled into the two.

The rain hitting the window matched the tears that now fell onto her face. Guilt caught her in the chest like a fist squeezing ever tighter. It wasn't guilt about kissing another man while she was married, the guilt was in the fact that she'd enjoyed that brief impulsive kiss more than she'd enjoyed the last several she'd had with her husband.

She leaned against her bed. Looking up at the canopy of her bed she found a spot where she had cast her first fireball as a child. She sighed wondering what the thirteen-year-old Fleur Delacour would think about all of this.

 _She would be furious that I didn't tell Harry to come back and kiss me again._ Fleur thought ruefully, _She would be furious that I chose Bill._

Perhaps it was time to listen to that voice.


	5. Chapter 5

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

 _I kissed Harry..._ Fleur thought miserably as she sat at the table moving her soup with a spoon in the illusion of eating it. _I kissed him and I enjoyed it_. It wasn't supposed to be like this. None of it. She wasn't supposed to feel this way about her friend.

 _I kissed Fleur..._ Harry was deeply conflicted as well. She'd kissed him before, on the cheek after the Second Task for example, but this wasn't a grateful kiss on the cheek. This had been a serious, minutes-long, kiss and Harry knew that he had enjoyed it greatly.

"You two seem very quiet tonight..." Jean-Luc said looking at them.

Fleur spoke up, "We are both just tired from the road Papa." She looked at Harry for a moment, "It has been a long trip to have only been a few days."

"Uh yes, lots of driving. Beautiful country though, I've enjoyed seeing France on the back of my motorcycle." Harry replied gaining a few more moments by taking a bite of his chicken. "I very much enjoyed the park we stopped in on our way here."

"The one by the Cathedral?" This came from Apolline. When Harry nodded she smiled slightly, the first smile Harry could remember her giving him since they'd arrived. "Fleur spent many summer days in that park as a little girl. I often wondered if she would bring anyone there." The way she said it made it clear that she'd meant _I wondered if she would bring Bill there..._

"Harry, will you take me for another ride tomorrow?" Gabrielle asked him from her seat beside him. "I would love to go to the park with you."

"I would feel better if Fleur went with you both," Apolline said to Gabrielle. "Would you mind?" She asked her eldest child.

"No Maman, Harry and I were already planning on spending the day in Toulouse," Fleur said to her mother. "I am glad the motorcycle has a sidecar." She said, "Otherwise it might be a very tight fit."

Dinner passed relatively quietly. Harry and Fleur each retired to their respective bedrooms to get some rest. That had been the plan anyway. It was nearly midnight when Harry heard the doorknob turn. He looked away from the fireplace and saw Fleur standing there in a light blue nightgown. "Can't sleep either?" He asked her.

She nodded, "I keep thinking about-"

"Don't." Harry said, "We made a mistake. That's all." He looked over to her, "We can pretend it didn't happen."

Fleur nodded, "Right. It didn't happen." The words sounded reassuring, but they felt hollow as she said them. Fleur sat down on the edge of his bed and looked at the floor, "It doesn't feel like it didn't happen though. It felt like I kissed you, and that I liked it."

There it was. She'd admitted the thing that had been eating at her.

She drew in a breath, "I know it's wrong. I know that kissing you was a mistake. But I did enjoy it at the time." She looked at him, "I am sorry Harry."

"I- I liked it too." He admitted quietly. "I like you. But you're married and we can't do it again, so the best thing to do is to put it out of our minds." He sighed, "Maybe in a world where you weren't married..." He let that thought die, it was too awkward to bring that into the universe. "You didn't kiss me on your own. I kissed back. We kissed each other."

She nodded slowly, "Then it will be our secret."

That was the plan anyway.

Scene Break

Fleur did not sleep well that night. Once she and Harry had made their agreement that the kiss had firstly meant nothing and secondly would not happen again, she'd thought that she would be able to get some rest. But she was wrong.

Instead, laying on the bed she'd slept on as a girl dreaming of finding the perfect husband, the one who would be her friend and her supporter, she kept thinking about Harry. It was infuriating, the reason that she hadn't gotten any sleep until the first rosy finger of dawn had touched the window.

She was attracted to Harry.

 _I am a married woman!_ She thought miserably as she rose from the bed. _A married woman who is attracted to a man who very much isn't Bill Weasley._ A traitorous thought whispered as she went to her en-suite to take a shower. As the hot water poured over her, she tried to dismiss the thoughts of Harry.

But they wouldn't go anywhere.

She sighed, resting her head against the wall of the shower. _Maybe this trip was a mistake. Maybe I should have stayed with Bill._ She thought as she moved her head and began to wash. It wasn't love at least, she didn't think it was. But the more she thought about Harry, the more she kept thinking back to their time as Champions. How he'd saved Gabrielle, how he'd stopped an imperioused Viktor Krum during the Third Task, how he had literally died to stop Voldemort. He was amazing and she knew that.

The water grew cold and she got out of the shower, wrapping a towel around herself.

Later, dressed in a set of muggle clothes she'd bought on a trip to London a few weeks before this one, she went down to breakfast. She found Harry, looking slightly rumpled from lack of sleep. He still had a light shadow on his cheek from not shaving yet. He looked over, stifling a yawn, and then spoke, "Good morning Fleur."

"Good morning Harry," Fleur replied sitting down beside him. This was somehow more awkward than their first morning together. The small hotel they'd stayed at hadn't had two rooms, so they'd had to share one room with two beds. Staying at her parents home, however, seemed different. Perhaps it was the fact that her own husband had ever expressed interest in coming here and yet Harry had been excited to come.

Gabrielle came bursting into the dining room excitedly. Her exuberance caused Fleur and Harry to share a smile. "Harry! Are you ready to go into the city?" She asked as she sat down on his left side.

"I was kind of looking forward to having breakfast first, maybe shaving too," Harry replied to the younger girl.

Gabrielle grinned, "I think you are much more handsome like this." She turned to Fleur, "Don't you think so Fleur?" She asked, not caring that she'd just made an already awkward moment slightly more so.

Fleur blushed slightly, causing Gabrielle to laugh, "She does!" Gabrielle said to Harry. "She thinks you're handsome!" She giggled into her hands.

"Keep it up, and you'll stay right here while Harry and I go into the city," Fleur said glaring at her sister.

This did not have the effect she wanted, however. "You just want to take him on a date!" Gabrielle teased her sister. From his spot, Harry just took a sip from his cup of coffee and prayed silently that this moment would pass.

Jean-Luc and Apolline, from their respective places at the table, shared a look. For Jean-Luc, it was clear he found this as amusing as Gabrielle did. Apolline found it less so. She shifted the Alain in her arms and offered the baby a small amount of egg. Alain took it greedily and she smiled at that rather than her youngest daughters antics.

Eventually, blessed silence came and they were able to finish their meals and prepare for the trip into the city with Gabrielle. Fleur conjured a second helmet for the teenager and with that, the three were off.

Gabrielle was disappointed that Harry kept the bike on the road, rather than flying through the air. From her place holding onto Harry's waist, Fleur looked at her sister, "What's wrong?" She asked.

"I want to fly!" Gabrielle shouted over the noise of the wind and the motorcycle's engine. "This is boring!"

Fleur rolled her eyes, "He cannot just take off into the sky to please you." Then she felt Harry's arm shift and she heard a click. As the strange fish-eyed view overtook her again, she knew what had happened: he'd activated the invisibility booster. She felt the bike shift upwards and held on tighter to his waist. "Harry James Potter!" She shouted over Gabrielle's laughter, "You know I hate flying in this!"

Harry laughed more quietly, laughter intended just for her, "I know, but she's having fun." Fleur didn't say anything else, instead she merely growled softly by his ear. _Is this how he would treat his daughter?_ She wondered as he brought the bike down in an alleyway on the outskirts of town. He already seemed wrapped around her little sisters finger, would he be this way with a daughter of his own? Again that image of a little blonde girl flitted into her mind. _He would be._ She realized. _He would be completely useless as a disciplinary figure._ She sighed and shook her head gently.

Harry pulled the now visible motorcycle out of the alley and back onto the road. "Do we want to go to the same park?" He asked Fleur and Gabrielle. "Is there anything else going on?"

"There is an art fair by the Cathedral. Besides that, there is a bicycle race." Fleur said to him as they joined the traffic of Toulouse proper. "I would prefer the fair myself, watching muggles race on their bicycles doesn't really interest me."

"What do you think Gabrielle?" He asked the younger girl.

Gabrielle thought for a moment, "The art fair." She replied to Harry. He nodded and with that, he followed the streets back to the Cathedral. It was much more crowded given that there was a fair in town as well as a bike rally that made sense. He found parking on the outskirt of the park he and Fleur had visited.

"We got lucky." He said to the sisters. "Everywhere else is full, but we've got this whole lot to ourselves." He looked out over the park, "There's the stand where we got our presses last time. Do you girls want one now?" He asked them, "Or would you rather wait until we've been out a bit longer?"

It was clear that Gabrielle wanted the lemon treat as her response was to grab Harry and Fleur's hand and tug them along. Harry smiled again over to Fleur, the look in his eyes was one of good-humored laughter as he took in the over the top antics of the young witch. Fleur took a page out of her mothers book however, she didn't look nearly as amused. An entire conversation seemed to pass between the two with nothing but a few glances and one thin blonde eyebrow being raised. _She's acting childish. She's excited to be out. You're coddling her. I'm letting her be a kid. Fine._ She didn't appreciate the rakish grin on Harry's face. It made him look far too boyishly handsome for her tastes.

The old man recognized them, "Bonjour, bonjour! It is good to see you two again, and who is the lovely young lady with you?" Henri said to the pair.

"My sister." Fleur said to him, "this one," Fleur indicated Harry, "mentioned to her that you made presse and that they were very good."

He laughed at that, his wrinkled face crinkling slightly more, "Well in the face of such praise, I think I'll have to give the three of you a free drink." He turned back and began to prepare the cups for them.

"You do not need-" Fleur began.

The old man turned back, "I'm sorry dear, I went deaf for a moment. Here you are." He pressed three cups into her hands and then turned away and began to clean the counter while they prepared their mix of sugar syrup and lemon juice.

Henri smiled as he watched them make their way to the fair. Marie would be there he knew.

Harry and Fleur walked behind Gabrielle as the younger girl made her way past booth after booth of vendors hawking their wares. Harry was watching the crowd with a practiced eye. Places like this were rife for pickpockets. While he knew everything he had of actual value was hidden inside his mokeskin pouch, he knew that wouldn't stop a thief from looking. He had another reason for keeping an eye out: hidden inside that pouch were the Deathly Hallows. The Cloak and the Stone weren't the items he worried about a hapless thief finding: it was the Elder Wand that concerned him the most.

He knew that the rumor he'd destroyed it had kept most of the seekers at bay. But there would always be the ones who would figure out that the rumor was just that. He'd kept it on the off chance that someone out there would want to be known as the one who killed Harry Potter. He'd already experienced it once; luckily Theodore Nott hadn't been a skilled wizard when he was a student and being an adult hadn't changed that fact.

Ginny had relished the 'excitement' of being the girlfriend of Magical Britain's hero. If Moody had been more of an influence on him, Harry might have suspected that Ginny wanted the spotlight more than she wanted him, to the point where if someone had managed to kill him she would have made a career out of her role as the 'Widow Potter'.

 _This is what I want_ , Harry thought as the trio stopped in front of a booth selling colorful silk scarves. _Peace and quiet, no one trying to embroil me in some world-shaking intrigue._ He smiled as he watched Fleur try on a light blue scarf. "You seem to love the color blue." He said to her.

"It matches my eyes, don't you think?" Fleur said smiling, she set down the scarf and looking she selected another. "Or would you prefer this one?" She said as she lifted up a scarlet scarf. "It doesn't have any gold, but it's a rather nice color isn't it?" She smiled and wrapped it around his neck. "I think you look rather dashing in it," Fleur said giggling.

Harry was glad that Gabrielle wasn't watching her sister. Bright red came to his cheeks as he stared into the blue eyes of the witch in front of him. "Okay then." He said quietly, reaching for his muggle wallet. "I'll take it but only if you'll wear the blue one."

This was a strange moment for the duo. Fleur and William only owned one thing in common, their wedding rings. She paused for a moment and then nodded. Harry paid for both scarves before turning and putting the blue scarf around Fleur's neck. The moment was more intimate than anything Fleur had experienced since her wedding. She wanted nothing more than to kiss him again. This time, she listened to the urging of her younger self and leaned in and captured his lips. The last kiss had been mutual, an impulsive act nothing more. This kiss was different.

Gabrielle Delacour watched her sister kiss the handsome young wizard. She smiled as she watched Harry slowly kiss back. The old woman at the booth she stood by laughed softly, "They seem rather happy together, don't they?"

Gabrielle turned to the old woman, "I always wanted them to be together." She admitted before turning to the woman, "Or I could marry him, either would work."

The woman at the booth looked at the young girl, "He's a bit old for you though." _Of course,_ Marie thought, _She's a bit too married at the moment._ Marie had noticed that Fleur wore a ring where Harry didn't back at the cafe. However, seeing the look on their faces even then, she knew that the woman's husband was the farthest thing from her mind.

The kiss broke and Harry and Fleur just looked at each other. For a moment, neither noticed that their arms were around each other in an embrace. "I-" Harry began.

"I like you, Harry," Fleur said quietly, drawing a steadying breath. "I am attracted to you a great deal. But I am married, I can't feel this way about you." She slowly moved from his arms, "But for some reason, I keep trying to imagine Bill in my arms and it ends up being your face I see."

"I don't want to ruin your marriage." Harry said to her, "I like you too, a lot. You are incredibly beautiful, but that's not why I like you. I like you because you are powerful because you are intelligent because you are- well, you I suppose." He looked down for a moment, in the breeze the blue and red scarves had entangled slightly. "If you ever decide that, what you want, isn't Bill anymore..." He let the thought stop there.

"Harry, Bill hasn't touched me in over five months. He's no longer intimate with me, he never defends me when his family harasses me." She said in a near-whisper. She tugged his hand, leading him away from the stall and to a bench, "The scandal- they would never forgive you...or me."

"I don't care." Harry said quietly matching her tone as they sat down, "If you aren't happy with Bill then you have no obligation to stay with him." He said to her, "Being married doesn't make you his slave."

"I just- I need time. Please." Fleur pleaded, "We still have Beauxbatons and Paris to see before we go back to London." She said to him, "We will just take things as they come and make our decision about how we feel when the time is right."

He nodded, "We won't rush it."

"Yes," She said, "Right now, we are only friends. Friends who happen to be attracted to each other, but still just friends." She sighed and then laughed in disbelief, "I can't believe I am even entertaining thoughts like this."

"I'm sorry," Harry told her, "I shouldn't have said that about 'if you don't want Bill anymore'..." He'd meant it, but he shouldn't have said it.

Scene Break

Bill Weasley had known the day Fleur left that she was away. He'd been informed by one of his fellow curse-breakers that she'd been talking to Harry Potter about traveling to Paris. He didn't mind. It gave him a chance to catch up with someone he didn't get to see nearly enough.

Theresa Zabini was older than him by nearly a decade, but she was still incredibly beautiful. They'd carried on their affair since they'd met when she'd contracted Gringotts to break a curse placed on a set of journals her fourth husband had left in his vault. They never planned on making it official, their joke is that he would live longer as her boyfriend than her husband.

So he had his wife, she had her string of husbands and all was well. It was bad luck that he'd been seen coming out of her townhouse by a passing Auror on patrol. Worse luck that the person who had seen him was one Megan Jones, sister to Hestia Jones former best friend of Nymphadora Tonks. Normally he left early in the morning or very late at night to avoid being seen, but with his wife out of the country, he'd felt that he could spend time with the beautiful widow.

Hestia, having been told by Megan what she had seen had gone to Andromeda Tonks. Had Bill been paying better attention to the world around him, he may have noticed a subtle chill in the air that was out of place for the summer. Andromeda wouldn't bother Harry or Fleur while they were on their trip. However, the moment they were back in Britain she would make sure that Bill Weasley had ample time to see the Widow Zabini because he would no longer be the husband of Fleur.


	6. Chapter 6

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

They dropped Gabrielle back off at Delacour Manor and made their way back onto the road leading out of Toulouse. Lourdes was the next major stop on the trip. Fleur allowed herself to doze as Harry traveled out of her hometown. The rumbling of the engine as well as the scent of the man she had her arms around soothed her. She trusted the enchantments on the bike that kept them from falling off as she closed her eyes.

She found herself dreaming of blonde children with green eyes. Daughters with his laugh and her habit of crinkling her nose when she thought. In the dream world at least she didn't feel guilty when she imagined holding his child in her arms. She smiled against his back in her sleep and absently cuddled tighter against him.

The feel of Fleur against him was the most exquisite torture Harry had ever known. Especially now that he knew how her lips felt against his, the little hitch in her breathing when they kissed was as familiar to him now as putting on his glasses in the morning. In a way he was glad she was resting, it gave him some time along with his thoughts as he sped down the E80. It wasn't a long trip, not compared to driving to Toulouse anyway, merely two hours. Idly he wondered if Fleur would sleep for the entire time.

It turned out that she would not. An errant driver slipped into their lane, causing Harry to swerve. That action shook Fleur into wakefulness. "Harry, what happened?" She asked, her voice thick with sleep. She blinked quickly allowing the countryside around them to come into focus. "Where are we?"

"We just went past Carbonne." Harry said, "We're about halfway there I think."

Fleur shook her head, "Carbonne isn't halfway. It's the first third of the trip. Would you mind pulling over at the next town? I think I'm getting a cramp in my leg." She asked him, feeling him nod in reply. However, instead of a town, he pulled off of the E80 and parked the bike at a small park on the outskirts of Carbonne.

Fleur moved off of the bike and shakily walked over to the nearest bench to stretch her leg. Harry was behind her, his hands out just in case she needed him to catch her. Fleur could sense him behind her and smiled despite the pain in her leg. Of course Harry would follow her, and of course he would pull off immediately instead of waiting until the next town. It was just a few of the things she lo-

Better not to think about that at the moment.

No, it was much better to let that thought slide out of her mind. Fleur lifted her leg and rested her foot on the bench as she began to massage her calf. She was grateful for the short skirt she was wearing, it allowed her to rub the bare skin and with a silently cast spell the pain began to ebb away. She turned her head, Harry was standing with his back to her. He wasn't standing there to ignore her, rather he was keeping watch, making sure that no one accosted her while she rubbed her leg. Warmth flooded into her as she watched him protect her.

She walked over to him and pressed an impulsive kiss to his cheek. "Thank you," Fleur said quietly, "I appreciate you keeping an eye out for me."

"What?" Harry asked then laughed softly, "I guess I was doing that too, but I was just letting you have your privacy." When he said that Fleur hugged him tightly from behind. Harry smiled as he drew in her scent.

"You are the most noble man I've ever met. You need to be rewarded." Fleur said with a little smile, "Your reward is that when we reach Lourdes, you can buy my lunch." She laughed and brushed past him to the motorcycle.

Harry rolled his eyes and went back to hop onto the motorcycle, he waited until he felt her arms link around his waist and the two sped off. The plan was to get a hotel in Lourdes for the next few days and then wait for a response from Madame Maxime. Then, once passage was secured via a portkey from Beauxbatons, they would visit the school where Fleur learned her magic. Harry was excited, he'd never visited another magical school before. Even his training at the Auror Academy was held at the Ministry rather than a school.

The miles began to click away as they traveled down the highway once more. "It's a beautiful day." He said as he shifted lanes and passed a slow moving truck. "We're making good time. This is perfect."

Cue summer thunderstorm that drenched the two and forced them to stop for cover at a small farmhouse. Well, it had been a farmhouse at one point or another. Now all that remained was a dilapidated shed that Harry and Fleur used their wands to make waterproof. "Where are we?" Harry asked as he used his wand to clear the cobwebs and other assorted filth from what looked like an old couch someone had thrown out.

"The last sign I saw said that we were in Capens." Fleur replied as she searched through the pack on the side of the motorcycle. "I can't believe we didn't think to bring anything from my parents home. I'm starving." She grumbled and then sank on the couch beside him. "You've learned cleaning charms I see."

Harry laughed softly, "I have. Grimmauld Place still needs work here and there and Kreacher isn't getting younger." He re-holstered his wand and then reached into his mokeskin bag. "I think I have some jerky if you'd like a piece." He offered.

She nodded and Harry reached in and found the small bag. "It should be venison." He said, "But it's Hagrid, so it could be venison, or it could be troll." They both laughed at the idea as he took a piece and then offered it to Fleur before taking a piece of his own.

Fleur sniffed it and then took a small bite. "It's definitely not troll. The goblins eat troll meat and I've smelled it before." She said as she chewed slowly. "Venison, I think." She said after swallowing the bite and taking another.

Harry followed her example and ate his piece. "He sent it as a birthday gift. I guess this is as good as time as any to use it." He said as the pair ate in comfortable silence as the storm continued around them.

"I love it in places like this." Fleur said after a moment, "The luxury at the manor is wonderful, but it's so peaceful in the country like this." She leaned in against Harry, "Do you prefer the city or the countryside?"

"I don't really know." Harry said after a moments thought, "I grew up in the suburbs, besides a few weeks at the Burrow during my school years, I was most in the city or near it." He pursed his lips for a moment, "I wouldn't mind living in the countryside I suppose. I mean with apparation and floo-travel, it's not like it's hard to get to London."

"Or Paris." Fleur said, "Someone could buy a farmhouse in one of the communes here and apparate to Paris, or wherever they needed to go." She looked out on the fields, "Someone could start a garden for all the vegetables they need, perhaps chickens for eggs and meat. With the right wards, it would be a nice hideaway from the world."

"Not this place." Harry said with a smirk, "I can feel the roof shifting against my charms. This place wants to fall apart." Fleur drew her wand and cast a few strengthening charms to reinforce the ones cast by Harry. The wards muffled the sound of the rain slightly and as they sat there, they two began to drift off into a nap, lulled to sleep by the warmth outside and the very soft patter of the rain on the tin roof.

Harry awoke to the smell of vanilla and honey. Opening his eyes slowly he saw a blonde head resting on his shoulder. He shifted slightly and heard a soft moan of displeasure and felt a slight pressure as Fleur's arms tightened around his waist. "Fleur..." He said quietly as he shook her, "Fleur, the sun is going down and the rain is stopped, we need to go on."

Another murmur of protest but eventually she opened her eyes. Harry laughed softly at the annoyed look on her face, "I'm sorry if you were comfortable, but it is time to get back on the road."

She sat upright, her arms slowly moving from around him. Harry didn't feel that it was appropriate at the moment to mention that he missed the feeling as she did so.

"How long we were asleep?" She asked, her voice huskier than normal, something Harry found strangely attractive. She cast a charm with her wand and her eyes widened, "We were here for nearly three hours." She shook her head softly, "You are far too comfortable." She teased him lightly before standing and offering her hand to help him up.

He took it standing up, "At least the charms held up alright." He said looking at the roof, he smiled at the work he'd done. "I'll have to tell Neville that his impermeable charm works a treat. He said he used this spell in his greenhouse as a patch until he could replace a pane of glass."

"We will have to thank him when we get home," Fleur said as they got back onto the motorcycle. Harry smiled at the feeling he'd gotten when she'd said 'home'. They pulled back onto the road and began the trip to Lourdes once more.

As they left the abandoned farmhouse in the distance there was a shimmer. Had Harry been paying better attention to the area behind them he might have noticed two figures standing where no one had been before. Henri laughed as he dropped the concealment charm that had hidden them while Marie removed the charms that had stabilized the shelter Harry and Fleur had shared. "Three hours in that position, reminds me of when you don't have a project at home." She said to her husband, "You just laze in that armchair of yours listening to the wireless without a care in the world."

Henri ignored his wife, "Step back a bit." He warned his spouse as he took a step backward and then another. She followed his movements as the shelter wavered and then came crashing down. "He made it waterproof but he forgot to strengthen it."

"She did though. She's a good counter to him, she's more cautious." Marie pointed out, "Pity that her spell was this weak. I think she's feeling conflicted about her attraction." She shook her head, "They are going to Lourdes they said."

"I know, I was beside you." Henri said with a laugh, "I'm only deaf when you ask me to greet salesmen." He turned from his wife and waved his wand in the general direction of an overgrown apple tree. The tree shivered and then vanished, revealing a jet black Citroen Normale. They climbed into it and Henri steered onto the road.

"Do you think they suspect the tracking charm?" Marie asked her husband as she fiddled with the radio. Finding a station playing Vivaldi she sat back upright, "We won't be able to interact as openly as we did before, not unless we wish to use glamours to change our appearance."

"I'd rather keep this face for a while longer, the Van Dyke looks good on me," Henri said stroking his goatee with his free hand as he steered. "But you are right, we'll just observe them. We can nudge without being in their face and shouting 'kiss her you fool!'."

"I reserve the right to shout 'kiss her you fool!'." Marie told her husband, "Far too few people appreciate how valuable the right call to action can be."

Henri merely laughed and continued to drive. After a few moments they were within sight of the motorcycle. In Harry's mirrors however, it looked like just a run of the mill goods van driven by a squat dark-haired man. "Turn your headlights on, you fool!" Henri directed the motorcycle, "It's too dark for you to try and see without them!"

"I'm sure he could hear you if you shouted a little louder," Marie said turning the volume on the radio up. After a moment they saw the beam shine from the bike and she shrugged, "Perhaps he did hear you."

"Or she told him the same thing. Look, she just smacked his shoulder." Henri told her, laughing at the antics of the young couple. "She was the class of ninety-four wasn't it?" He asked after a moment, "The Tri-Wizard nonsense."

"Yes, Olympe sent us her report that year. Fleur did very well considering-"

"Considering Albus held her baby sister hostage underwater," Henri muttered under his breath.

"Why? Do you suppose that's where they are going?" Marie asked her husband, "I suppose it would make sense. They never visited the cathedral in Toulouse, so I doubt they are going to see the shrine."

"Most likely, perhaps we can drop the disguise and visit our alma mater while we are in the area. He hasn't seen those faces so we could talk to them one-on-one." Henri suggested then swore as he swerved to avoid a cat that had darted into the road. "Miserable beast!"

Marie laughed at her husband, "You never could drive could you?"

"You are the one who's letting me drive." He pointed out, "Besides you are even worse. Even obliviation couldn't help that poor instructor."

"Shut up, you fossil."

Henri's laughter continued until he caught the sharp elbow of his wife in his ribcage.

Scene Break

Harry and Fleur pulled into the first hotel they found with a vacancy. The Maison Chez Darrouy was a small stone hotel that looked like it had been a farmhouse at some point in its life. The manageress greeted them as they came inside, "Welcome, how may I help you?"

"We'd like a room for the next few days," Harry said drawing out his muggle wallet.

The woman nodded and looked at her register, "Room five is open, it is ₐ60.00 a night, will that work for you?" Harry looked at Fleur and she gave her assent with a tilt of her head. Smiling the woman began to fill out the forms as Harry drew out the money.

"Perfect, if you would sign the register please." The manageress said sliding the book in front of them. Harry thought for a moment and then grinned, with a few marks from the pen they were registered as _Harry and Fleur Peverell_. Fleur noticed this but said nothing at the moment.

They were given their key and directions to the room. Once they were away from the office however she spoke, "You put us here as a married couple, why?"

He shrugged and began to unlock the door, "Harry Potter and Fleur Delacour stayed at our first hotel, this time it's Harry and Fleur Peverell. If someone wanted to follow us I want to make it difficult. I've had a weird little tingle every now and then that someone has been doing just that." He opened the door and stepped into the room, "I've learned to trust nearly every weird tingle."

The room was lovely. Fleur toed off her shoes and enjoyed the feel of the thick carpet on her bare feet, "Nearly?" She asked him as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Some are just simple paranoia from nearly dying every year that I was in school. Others are just mistrust from every relationship being an unhealthy mess."

"All two of them," Fleur said with a small teasing smile.

"Cho and I were only 'dating' for like two days at best." He said shrugging, "Ginny is more what I was referring to." He sat down on the other side of the bed, "But yeah, I've been nearly killed enough times that if something feels odd I pay closer attention."

"Smart man," Fleur said to him as she settled in against the headboard of their bed.

Harry laughed, "I aim to please Mrs. Peverell." He teased her lightly as he leaned back, his shoes falling to the ground with a muffled thump.

Fleur didn't reply as she began to inspect the remote control for the television across from them, however as she pressed the button marked 'on' and the flickering lights began to dance across the screen, she smiled at the thought. A smile that Harry easily mistook for amusement at the television itself and not her fake husband.


	7. Chapter 7

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

 _She awoke to the smell of fresh coffee and hot cinnamon. She smiled warmly. Clearly, her loving husband had decided to treat her this morning. She rose out of bed, not bothering with a robe as she padded down the hall to the kitchen._

 _He was turned away from the door when she got there. She crept up behind him and then wrapped her arms around him kissing his neck and then spun him around to face her. She kissed him firmly before leaping into his arms, pressing her naked body against his._

" _I love you Ha-"_

And then she awoke. From beside her, she heard the regular breathing of her bedmate. Harry didn't have the Weasley snore, a fact she was truly grateful for. She sat up in the bed and looked at him, in the darkened room, lit only by the moon outside he wasn't the hero of the wizarding world, he wasn't the destroyer of Voldemort, he was just Harry.

Just Harry, who had put everything aside in order to bring her to France.

Just Harry, who'd taken her on this trip through her home country with a stop at Beauxbatons and then another week in Paris.

Just Harry, whom she really wanted to kiss. Possibly for the rest of their lives if the warmth in her belly when she thought about him was anything to go by. She saw him frown in his sleep, his lips moved as if he was talking to someone but all she heard was a slight hiss of his breathing. She leaned down and kissed his temple, hugging his sleeping body to hers. It seemed to help, Harry's face calmed back into a sleep-slackened neutral expression, the only sign that he was taking comfort in her actions was that his lips spread very slightly into a smile.

 _What am I doing?_ Fleur thought as she stroked his cheek, _I cannot fall in love with him. The scandal alone would ruin his good name for years, maybe for the rest of his life._ She sighed, _Whatever this is, it cannot go any farther than France._

That idea was sound, except everything in her very soul hated it. She couldn't live that life, loving Harry and watching him find another woman. She couldn't be married to Bill and trying to imagine Harry's face when she was forced to perform the duties he expected of her.

 _Perhaps I can convince him to stay in France..._ She liked that idea, images of that little dilapidated farmhouse they'd stopped at being turned into a proper home flitted into her mind. The issue of scandal in England still existed, but at least in France, they could be free to be together.

Thoughts of the cheerful farmhouse in her dream lulled her back to sleep and she fell back asleep against him.

Harry awoke later in the morning to a sight that was slowly becoming more familiar, Fleur was asleep and holding onto him. Her face was pressed against his chest, her lips curled in a smile. At his stirring, the smile turned into a frown and she tightened her grip on his shirt, burrowing tighter into him.

Fleur, Harry had begun to learn, was a cuddle-enthusiast. She had a grip like iron but she was warm and sweet-smelling, Harry supposed that he could very easily get used to that grip on his waist. Too used to it in fact. He loved-

He loved her.

Shit.

Harry was in love with Fleur. He loved her, from the top of her bed-head to the tips of her absolutely freezing toes that traced up his leg as she twitched in her sleep. He was in love with a married woman, a woman married to the brother of his former fiancee. He groaned softly in annoyance at the situation, causing Fleur to stir from her sleep. "'arry?" Fleur said against his chest, her accent thick from sleep, "What time is it?"

He looked over at the clock, "A little after seven."

She tightened her grip on his waist, "Then it is too early." She looked up at him, "I want to thank you for this. All of this is because you wanted me to be happy. Something I haven't experienced with my own husband in a very long time." She drew in a steadying breath, "I- I need you. I need this. The closeness, the kisses, I don't care if they hate me forever."

"What are you saying?" Harry asked her, with her closeness, he knew she could tell his heart was racing in anticipation.

She leaned up and kissed him deeply. Harry froze for a moment then began to kiss back. He felt her shift in the bed, pressing her body against him, she was sitting up now, her hands on his thighs as she pressed him against the headboard. Her tongue slid into his mouth, filling his senses with the taste of her, Harry heard her grunt softly into the kiss, a sound born of her hunger for this connection between them.

When the kiss broke they were both panting slightly, "Love me." She said quietly but firmly, "Here in France, there is no 'Fleur Weasley', we are Harry and Fleur Peverell at this place, let us be Harry and Fleur Peverell until we are forced to choose between it and Harry Potter and Fleur Weasley." Her hands moved from his thighs to his shirt, her hands moved under the material touching his chest, "We both want this, you know it as well as I do."

"I do want you," He admitted, "You make me crazy."

"You do the same to me." She said, "Will you then? Love me, at least for a little while?" She hated how needy she sounded. She wasn't a scared little girl, she was stronger than-

Harry was kissing her and the pleasure from that fact stilled her rational mind. Maybe it was wrong, she didn't care anymore. She didn't care about the disapproval of her family, of her in-laws, or of her husband. As she and Harry undressed one another, clothes flying from the bed, she didn't care about anything except how right this felt. As touches progressed to lips on bare skin, she didn't hear Ginny Weasley calling her 'Phlegm', all she heard was Harry moan as her lips kissed a sensitive place just above his navel. When his lips touched her inner thigh, his face slightly scratchy and rough with stubble, she didn't see Bill's face, it was Harry making her feel this way.

Later, much later, they took a shower together. They hadn't spoken since before they'd made love. Even now in the shower, they were silent as they washed one another. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, it was a silence made from there being nothing that needed to be said rather than one born of not knowing what to say.

Fleur felt her stomach gurgle and that sound caused them both to laugh, "I suppose we should have eaten breakfast before we used all that energy." She said to Harry, "Lunch will have to be a sizable meal."

"As my lady wishes." Harry said as he turned off the hot water, then his voice turned serious, "Fleur-"

She stopped him with a kiss, "Non. Until we return to England, when we are alone then there is no shame in what we've done." She told him before leaving the shower and toweling herself dry. She smirked as she bent to dry her legs, "Harry, I felt loved in your arms. I haven't felt like that in a long time. I know that I am a married woman, I don't care anymore. If we decide upon going back that we don't want this to end, then it won't."

"You'd divorce Bill?" Harry asked her, drying himself with his own towel.

Fleur nodded as she straightened her body, "Of course I would. If we want this to be more than a brief fling while we are in France then I would choose the man who wants me over the one that refuses to defend me when his family attacks me." She walked into the bedroom of their suite with the towel wrapped around her waist, "I had a dream about that, I believe that's what spurred me on today. I saw us building a life here in France."

She sat on the bed and took her wand from the nightstand. She cast a drying charm and began to comb her hair out as her wand floated about her head, a gust of hot hair coming out and drying her hair. "We found a little farmhouse like the one we found the other day but livable."

Harry came out brushing his teeth, "Really now? I always pictured you as loving the city life."

"I enjoy comforts, I won't lie about that." She said taking back her wand once her hair was dry. She went back into the bathroom to brush her own teeth, "But there is something to say about the peace and quiet of the country isn't there?"

There was, he had to admit it. "What would we do?" He asked her, wanting to hear more of her fantasy. At this point that was all it was, a flight of fancy.

"Harry, you are rich. My family is likewise, my father loves you. If we were to tell my father that we both wanted to live in France he would shake down every contact he has at the French Ministry to get you any job you wanted." Fleur explained, "As for me, I can just transfer to Gringott's Paris branch."

He shook his head, "I don't want to be given a job because my future father-in-law knows someone. I have enough problems with my fame in England." Harry dropped his towel and began to dress, "I'd rather get a job on my own terms, even if it is sweeping the floors."

She came back naked and began to pick through her clothes, "If he was to do that, please do not hurt his feelings by refusing to at least talk to whomever he met with." She turned back to him, holding up a light blue blouse against her body, "Do you like this or," she switched the garment for a black and white blouse, "this one?"

He looked at her and then to each of the blouses. "I'm not going to lie, I love seeing you in blue."

She blushed and put the blue blouse on the bed before placing the black and white one back into the suitcase. They dressed in a comfortable silence and then it was time for them to face the day.

They left the hotel and took the motorcycle into Toulouse proper. Harry steered the bike onto a road that followed the canal. Sitting in traffic made Harry long to press the button to turn on the invisibility booster and get them into the air. He refrained, partly out of the fact that they were already on the road and partly because he knew she didn't like flying.

"What about that one," Fleur said pointing with her free hand, the other arm was wrapped around his waist, "Les Complices?" Harry followed her hand and pulled into the parking lot. It was a small, cozy place, the kind that he could imagine them taking a child to after an afternoon exploring the shops.

"This will do for me." He said as he turned off the motorcycle. They disembarked and walked into the restaurant. They were sat by the hostess near the window and given menus.

"So, if we do this-" Harry began, "We'll be starting over. I doubt very seriously that Ron and Hermione would talk to me again, well maybe one letter at Christmas or something similar, but-"

"I know that. But you would have Andromeda and Teddy." Fleur offered.

Harry blew out a breath, "Damn I forgot about them. There's no way I can be a godfather and live in another country."

"I would not say no if they wanted to live with us," Fleur said as she took a sip from the water glass the waitress had brought them. "The change of scenery would do her some good. She lives in the same house she'd shared with Tonks and Ted."

Harry rubbed his temples, "This is a lot to even begin to process."

"That's why I didn't want to discuss it today." Fleur told him, "I wanted today to be free from worrying about tomorrow. This was supposed to be our day without intrusion."

He sighed softly, "Then let's do that. What do you want to do today?"

She thought about it. Beyond the immature voice that was telling her to say 'go back to the hotel and stay in bed all day', there were one or two other things she wanted to do. "I would like to visit the shops, this is a tourist town of course, so it's only appropriate that we go and look at the overpriced goods."

He laughed at that. The waitress arrived and they each made their order, once they were alone again he took her hand. "Whatever we decide though, I want you to know: I will do my best to make sure you never regret whatever choice is made."

She squeezed his hand, "Harry, I know that I would never regret being with you." She smiled at him, "You are a good man and if we decide that this is what we want, then I know you will love me forever."

His thumb traced the back of her hand, "I mean the fact that we are already at this point should tell you that I want this too." He saw the hope in her eyes and brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, "I want to make this work."

She could not mask her happiness at that. Divorce would not be painless, but he was worth it. "Harry, when we return, would you mind a lodger at Grimmauld Place until my divorce is completed?"

He laughed softly, "Of course I wouldn't. I may have to change the wards so that no one but the two of us can get inside, well us and Andromeda, but there will always be room for you in my home."

After lunch, they went back to the motorcycle. Fleur guided him through a series of twisting roads until they arrived at an alley that dead-ended behind a small bakery. "This is the entrance to the magical district of Toulouse. It is similar to Diagon Alley, but it is a bit smaller."

"Where should I park the bike?" He asked her, "If this is like Diagon then I know there's no parking." She laughed and thought for a moment, "There is a car-park beside the church we passed. Let's park there and then walk back."

And so they did.

The _Allee Magique_ was exactly as Fleur had described, a small but bustling shopping district for the magical community in Toulouse and beyond. "We need to stop here," She told him, "I have to send word to Madame Maxime that we wish to visit."

"Couldn't we just send a messenger patronus?" Harry asked her.

"We could," She admitted, "But I also wanted to show you where I got my school things. It may come in handy in case we ever have to bring someone here ourselves." The message was clear: Fleur believed strongly,that at some point, there would be a child and that child would have to get their school things.

As they browsed Madame Maxime was well aware that they were in Toulouse. She had been told of their arrival thanks to a visit from her benefactors. They were most anxious to meet with Harry and Fleur and so for the first time in many, many years, the in-school alchemy lab was humming with activity.

Henri was working on one of his experiments when Marie came to find him, carrying in a tray of sandwiches. "Work time is over," She told him, "Eat your lunch."

"Spared no expense I see." Henri said to his wife as he took a bite, "The doctor told you I wasn't allowed any more organ meats, so instead of liverwurst I have to eat watercress..."

"That potion of yours keeps us alive, we have to keep ourselves healthy and sharp-witted." Marie told him, "Besides I told Olympe to expect an owl today. When she gets it she is to send one of the House Elves to pick up our lovebirds."

"I know that. That was my plan. I've not gone addled yet. No matter how hard you try." He said dryly as he ate his sandwich.

"I wonder how they will take our meddling." Marie said as she sat down beside her husband, "Do you think we should tell them or just let it be?"

"Let it be of course." He said with a chuckle, "Saying 'Hello Harry, Fleur, lovely to meet you two again. We've been following you since you stepped into our cafe and think you would make lovely children, marry each other as soon as possible' wouldn't go very well."

She rolled her eyes, "You are hopeless when it comes to being tasteful." She told Henri.

"No," He said putting the last of his sandwich back on the plate, "That mess of lake-weed they call watercress is the hopeless one when it comes to taste. You've just been so caught up with those two that now you're nervous."

There was a knock on the door, Madame Maxime entered, "I have received their owl. They have requested entrance tomorrow morning. I will send a House Elf as you've asked."

"Thank you, dear," Marie said, "It is very gracious of you to allow us a chance to carry on like this."

"Marie, we do pay her after all." Henri pointed out, "Still, thank you, Olympe, you are free to go back to actually running the school while we act like gossiping schoolgirls." He dismissed the Headmistress and he and his wife discussed Harry and Fleur. Tomorrow would be the day that everything would either go well or go straight to hell as Henri termed it.

The fact that Marie smacked him for his crude language should be taken as understood.


	8. Chapter 8

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

Waking up in Harry's arms was something that Fleur was learning to love. They had made love again the night before and now she was still pleasantly sore from it. She kissed him once she'd noticed his eyes were open, "Good morning." Fleur said quietly once the kiss broke.

"Good morning yourself." Harry said smiling, "So, our escort won't arrive until nine-thirty. We have-" He rolled over and looked at the alarm clock, "two hours before then. I vote we go to that bakery you found and buy many different pastries."

"Many different pastries eh?"

He shrugged, "Beats 'many different herrings'." That earned a laugh from both of them. They had spent the evening watching _The Producers_ and both had found the scene where Ulla described her day to be amusing.

Fleur poked his side playfully, "Not too many, I do not want my clandestine lover to get fat." She took any perceived sting out of her words when she kissed him again. This kiss turned into a much more lengthy one than the kiss that begun their day.

 _This is how it was supposed to be..._ Fleur thought as they continued to kiss one another. Even newly married Bill hadn't been expressive as Harry had in just the first few days of their relationship. Why had she fallen in love with Bill? At first, he seemed like a good man, he had an exciting job and when his mother expressed doubts about him dating her he'd managed to keep rebelling against her. Little by little he'd stopped defending her. Little by little his job called him away for longer and longer. She'd been alone more than she'd been with him since the war ended.

She knew that eventually, the newness would wear off on this relationship and that she and Harry would have disagreements. She'd already seen that he wouldn't be the disciplinarian in the family from how he treated Gabrielle. It was clear to her that it would take a lot of work between the two of them to ensure their future children grew up without being spoiled.

Children. That was a thought that made her smile after the kiss broke and she'd placed her head back on his chest. Blonde daughters and green-eyed sons, she wasn't sure how many, but she knew she wanted his children regardless of number. She pressed a kiss to his chest and she smiled deepened as she felt him chuckle softly.

"Harry?" She said very quietly as she drew on all the courage she had.

"Yeah Fleur?" Harry replied.

Her nerve broke and she didn't answer. Instead, she kissed him. When the kiss broke, as she stared into those green eyes- the ones she saw her forever inside, she was able to speak, "I love you."

"I love you too," Harry said as he pulled her up against him. "We will go back to England after our vacation and we will make whatever arrangements we need to. We can figure out if France will be our home, or if we will remain in England. The important thing," He said once she was settled comfortably with her head on his shoulder, "is that we are together."

Together. That very word made her heart sing so loudly Fleur was certain he could hear it. "I am going to take a shower," she said as she rose from the bed, "will you join me?" She didn't quite manage to stifle the giggle as she watched him hurry from his side of the bed.

Later, after their shower, they did not have time for the 'many different pastries', much to Harry's dismay. Instead, the manageress of the hotel prepared a small loaf of bread with brie and tart cherry jam. _"Cherries fresh from Provence!"_ she had told him when he went to fetch it. Armed with this and a small pot of coffee, the pair were ready when the diminutive House Elf appeared before them. "I am Elon," he said bowing, "Madame has sent me to bring you to the school."

"Merci Elon," Fleur said, "I remember you from my third year. You brought my parents to the infirmary." Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment at the memory, "I tripped during my Potions class and got a very bad burn due to it." She explained to Harry.

They took the tiny beings hand and then vanished, arriving on the path before the great brass gate that separated them from the school. "Elon will open the way." Elon reached up and stroked the door in a way that reminded Harry of when Griphook had opened the door to the Hogwarts Vault before his first year. At the touch of the Elf, the gate parted and Fleur led him on the path towards the school.

Hogwarts was a castle, that was true, but Beauxbatons was a palace. Great white marble pavilions rose from the ground, their walls bare except for their names declaring the class taught there. " _Défense contre la Magie Noire."_ Harry said, reading the sign aloud, "That must be the Defense class."

"Very good, you are learning!" Fleur exclaimed happily. "Very impressive Mr. Potter." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. She squeezed his hand as they continued past that and up to the largest part of the school. "This is the _Grande Salle_ , the Great Hall, which is also home to the dormitories and the Professors Quarters," Fleur explained as they stepped inside. It looked more open than Hogwarts to Harry, Beauxbatons had a line of massive windows along the eastern wall that filled the entryway with light and birdsong.

Madame Maxime stood at the entrance to the Dining Hall, coming to greet them she smiled at her former student, "Greetings Champions." She said shaking their hands, "How has your vacation been so far?"

"It's been wonderful." Harry said smiling, "France is a beautiful country and luckily for me I've had a fantastic traveling partner." The tall woman noted the little flush on the cheek of Fleur but said nothing.

"How was this past term Madame?" Fleur inquired as they began to walk towards Madame Maxime's office. "I know you had an influx of British students during the war, did any stay?"

"Several. In fact, most of our second-and-third-year students were returning immigrants." She told them as they stepped inside the office. The Headmistress' office did not resemble the office of Albus Dumbledore at all, Harry thought. Instead, it looked almost sparsely decorated with only a few bookshelves and two paintings on either side of the desk adorning the walls.

"Who are those?" Harry asked gesturing to the two portraits, in one there was a sleeping elderly witch dressed all in dark blue and the other was a young man perhaps just a few years older than Harry himself.

"The one on the left," Maxime said, gesturing to the sleeping witch, "is Lady Margaret Duchamp, the first Headmistress of Beauxbatons, she presided over the school from 1464 to 1505, until she was poisoned by a rival witch for the position. That witch was slain by the grandson of Lady Margaret, Lord Clement Duchamp, the young man on the other side of the desk. Pity that it came to that, the murderess was his wife. He never remarried, eventually, he began Headmaster for a period of thirty years but then he vanished after naming his successor."

"I take it she doesn't get a portrait?" Harry asked.

Maxime laughed, "The last act of Headmaster Duchamp II was to burn her portrait. Some believe there was a final argument that caused him to do so. Others believe it was her request and still, others believe that it was the request of his Headmaster Duchamp I." She sat down behind the desk, "Two of our Governors would like to meet with you while you are here. One of them is the former head of our Alchemy program, the other is his wife and our former head of Charms."

"They want to see us?" Fleur asked in a shocked whisper, before turning to Harry, "The Flamels have-"

"The Flamels? But they died when I was eleven, Dumbledore destroyed the stone after Voldemort tried to steal it." Harry said confused, "Are they portraits?"

"No, we are very much alive."

Harry turned, along with Fleur, to the sound of voices. Something about the voice had sounded familiar to him. He saw an unfamiliar man and woman at the door. The man was smiling as if a particularly hilarious joke had been told, while the woman looked at Harry and Fleur as if very excited to meet them. "Hello young man, I am Nicolas Flamel, and this is my wife Perenelle."

"How are you still alive? I thought the stone was destroyed." Harry rephrased his question.

Nicolas laughed quietly, though it was clear that the laughter wasn't aimed at Harry, "Albus was too clever for his own good. I told him I had enough elixir to 'settle our affairs', our affairs ended up being the creation of a new stone." He looked at his wife and when she nodded he grinned, "Would the two of you like to see it?"

Fleur answered for him, "We would be honored, sir!" She practically flew out of her chair and grabbed Harry's hand tugging him towards the doorway and the Flamels. Perenelle laughed watching the young woman pulling her man like an over-excited child going to see Father Christmas. It amused the old woman, watching Harry grin at the beautiful blonde. _She's already got him wrapped around her little finger..._ she thought with a laugh as the four of them made their way to the private Alchemy lab on the grounds.

"So, what do you two know about Alchemy?" Nicolas asked as they crossed the grounds leading to the Alchemy lab. "I taught classes here on Alchemy for nearly a hundred years. We don't teach now, of course, I haven't found the proper students in some time." He looked at the pair, as they walked he wondered if either of them would have the talent. It would be a good way to keep them close and get to know them better if he took one on as an apprentice.

Harry wrinkled his nose as they walked into the lab. It reminded him of Snape's lab, all mysterious bottles and vinegary aromas. The difference lay in the quality of the utensils. He'd never seen tools like these, not in Potions class or in the Infirmary. "Are these Goblin silver?" He asked as he looked at one that reminded him vaguely of the herb mincer Aunt Petunia had bought at the supermarket once. It featured a number of wheels, each one having a tiny sharp blade. The one his aunt had used was much smaller and made of white plastic, this one looked as if weighed as much as one of his heavy chef knives.

"Well spotted Mr. Potter well spotted indeed." Nicolas laughed and lifted the tool, "This is a multi-cutter. At my age, it's easier to let the enchanted objects cut the things I only need for their essence. I just roll this over the top of whatever item I am working on and it dices the herbs or what-have-you and I can slide it into my cauldron."

"But wouldn't using Goblin silver taint the ingredients with whatever was used before?" Fleur asked, "at Gringotts, we aren't allowed to use silver on anything in case the object had poison on it." She didn't want to question one of the most famous men in their world, but it didn't make any sense to her.

"Very smart," Nicolas said to her, "my silver was sourced from a Master. He enchanted it to stay perfectly inert for as long as I lived. He probably intended on my dying and the enchantment fading away, but that's what he got for betting against functional immortality." The old man laughed and then winced as his wife elbowed him.

"Ignore the old man. He enjoys both rambling and bragging." Perenell said to the couple, "Welcome to our lab. He may consider it his but he is not the one who ensures it stays clean." The old woman led them past the table and towards the slateboard, "This is a formula that Nic has been working on for longer than the two of you have been alive."

Harry looked at the row upon row of equations and scrawled ingredients, "I see troll skin and is that unicorn blood?"

Nicolas smiled and walked over, "It is, the regenerative properties of both items are strong but combined they can be even better. This potion will, I am hoping, allow victims of degenerative curses to regain the use of their limbs and perhaps even their minds."

"Their minds? I wonder if this could help my friend Neville Longbottom's parents." Harry mused as he continued to read the formulae. He didn't understand much of it, but he could pick up the ingredients at least.

"The Longbottoms were cursed during the first War with Voldemort." Nicolas said, "If he was willing, once I've perfected and created this potion, I would be willing to have an agent bring it to England and attempt its use on them." He frowned as he inspected a number and then changed it with a piece of chalk. "Fifty-six years I've been working on this."

"When we return to England I'd be happy to tell Neville about your offer." Harry said, "He would probably do anything if he thought it would help his parents." Fleur squeezed his hand, a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by Perenelle. "I know I would." Harry finished as he returned the gesture.

"What I need is a catalyst, something to make the ingredients work. When I have that, you can send my offer to your friend." Nicolas said as he peered at his board. It was clear that he was no longer part of the conversation as he studied his marks.

"Follow me you two, my husband is lost to the world for the next few hours," Perenelle said leading the two out of the lab and back onto the grounds. "Now, tell me how you two wound up in France together."

"Well we met at the Tri-Wizard Tournament in my fourth year at Hogwarts," Harry began. As he gave an edited version of their shared history he felt Fleur squeeze his hand again. He knew what that squeeze meant, not to mention that she is still Mrs. Bill Weasley to one of the most famous citizens of Magical France.

Perenelle listened, "I see," she knew the truth of course and could tell they were hiding part of their status. "It is wonderful to see two young people so in love, ever since I first laid my eyes on you two I could tell it." She smiled warmly at the two of them, though on the inside she was chuckling at the flush on their cheeks.

"I am very lucky." Harry said looking into Fleur's eyes, "Fleur is an amazing woman."

"Harry is the best thing to happen to me." Fleur replied, though her words were for Harry, "I've never felt as loved as I do with him."

"Hold on to that feeling and you will get through anything this world throws at you two," Perenelle said as they began to walk again. "Nic and I have been through wars, plagues, famines, pestilence, all four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. But we are still together because there's no other person for us."

Fleur thought about that as Perenelle led them through the grounds, explaining the layout to Harry. Could she imagine being with Bill now? No, she knew that. Even without their promise to be together, she could not stay married to someone like Bill. Someone who ignored his family's abuse of her, someone that never took time for her.

She needed the life she had with Harry. A life where she was actually treated as if she was a valued part of a team. She wanted to see their children attending Beauxbatons, wanted to come home to the little farmhouse she saw in her dreams to Harry and their family.

She was tired of being disrespected. She was tired of being neglected. She was tired of being the dutiful wife to a husband who didn't appreciate her.

She would have it, the Weasleys and England be damned.


	9. Chapter 9

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

Harry and Fleur shared a brief lunch with Perenelle during a short break on their tour of the grounds. "So, you are in France together," the old woman began as she poured them each a cup of strong, fragrant tea, "Tell me about England."

"Well, I'm an Auror. Normally, someone, my age would only be a junior," Harry said, "But due to the War, there were so few Aurors that returned that the Minister gave those of us who were at the Battle special clearance to start with our mentors early instead of going through the Academy." He took a sip of his tea, "I was partnered, along with my best friend Ron, with Gawain Robards. He's since been made Department Head."

"I work at Gringotts, the London branch." Fleur added, unwilling to bring up her actual husband, "We are new at this. Before now I was- I was with someone else." That was close enough to the truth. Fleur's eye went down to her hand, she'd should've taken her ring off she mused. "We are discussing the idea of staying in France. It would be nice for us to have a fresh start, away from the- well the drama in London."

"England as a whole really," Harry added.

"Oui." Fleur finished. She took his hand, "Harry is learning well. He might not have full comprehension of the language yet, but I think he will get there in time." She smiled at him, "The one before him never wanted to learn French. He said translation charms did all the work so why bother?"

"Because it's important to you." Harry said quietly squeezing her hand in support. "This is your home, it's as much a part of you as those beautiful blue eyes. It's important to you, so it's important to me." She leaned in and kissed him.

Perenelle smiled, "If you decide to stay in France, you will have to visit Nicholas and I. After we sold our home in Devon and came back to France we found a lovely cottage near Brionne. Have you ever been there?" She asked them, knowing full well the answer.

"We have. We were there briefly on our trip to my parent's home." Fleur said in response, "It seemed quiet enough."

Perenelle went to respond with Elon, the little House Elf that had brought Harry and Fleur to the school appeared beside them. "Master Flamey asks for you three."

They rose from the table, their food vanishing as they did. Perenelle led them back to the Alchemy Lab, where Nicholas looked ready to start dancing. "I did it!" He cried, rushing over, as fast as his ancient bones would allow, and kissing his wife. "I figured out what I need for this potion!"

"Are you certain? The last time you said that we spent three years in Guam and I still hate the taste of Spam." Perenelle replied. She allowed her husband to pull her towards the formula on the board. "Well, let's hear it then." She said as he backed up with his arms raised like a showman.

"Unicorn blood must be freely given to avoid the curse that comes from using it otherwise. Troll skin is a powerful restorative but it's deadly poisonous. But!" He said pointing at an incomprehensible scribble, "If I can find something that can overpower the poison, I can combine their essences." For a man as old as he was, Nicholas practically danced as he raced to the other side of the board. "A bezoar is too weak for this, the regenerative properties of the troll skin keep the poison active after death." He ran a hand through his snowy hair, "All I need to do is craft a cure for poison that is stronger than a bezoar. It should only take fifty more years!"

Perenelle raised a steely gray eyebrow, "'Only fifty more years' he says." She scoffed and turned back to Harry and Fleur, "All he has to do is something that no one else has been able to do. Again."

"What about the anti-poison charm?" Harry asked, "Could you put the potion in a vial with the charm inscribed like a runestone?"

"The potion would be poisonous again within a moment of being poured out. It would take an incredibly powerful magic artifact to override the poison." Nicholas said waving his hand dismissively. It was clear that it wasn't a case of being rude, but rather that his mind was already working on the next stage.

"How powerful?" Harry asked.

Nicholas though for a moment, "Something crafted by a Master Enchanter with materials from Master Craftsmen."

With that Harry reached for his pouch, "I have three items created by Death itself."

That caused silence to fall in the lab. The bubbling of various potions sounded louder than military drums against the heavy silence. Nicholas paused, his quill on the parchment as he had begun to scratch out an idea. The tip of the quill broke, flying off and striking a bottle of murtlap sweat. "Those. Those could work."

There weren't many things that could shock the Flamels after lives as long as theirs. Nicholas knew of the Elder Wand, after all, he had been if not friends with Albus Dumbledore they had been colleagues and had seen it many times. He had heard of the Invisibility Cloak, the original Cloak, the one that all others were pale imitations of, the scrap of Death's robe. It was the Resurrection Stone that stunned him. The tiny green stone held the power to temporarily turn back the Veil and allow the dead to return.

Harry set the three items down on the table, "Look at them, when you know what you need to use take it. If it gets destroyed all the better. These things don't need to exist." He said to the ancient scholar. Harry had no true warm feelings to any of them except for the Cloak. It had belonged to his father and was the first Potter family heirloom he'd ever gotten. The wand was merely a symbol of the pride and fear that could consume a wizard, much as the stone represented the fear of loss that could swallow a man's soul.

Those two things were worthless to him. They caused nothing but pain and fear wherever they went and whatever they were used for. Perhaps in their destruction, they would finally bring good into the world?

Nicholas studied them, "You control them. I need to give you a crash course in Alchemy so that you can cast the neutralizing charm on the troll skin." He looked up from the Hallows. "The Elder Wand will be needed to cast the charm, but I believe the Stone will need to act as a foci to push the power through the charm."

"I can cast that charm now," Harry argued.

"Perhaps, but you have never cast a charm into an alchemical mixture," Nicholas said. He turned to Fleur and Perenelle. "You two leave us for now. We will be at this for some time."

Perenelle rolled her eyes and guided Fleur out of the lab. "Come along dear. The old fossil will be nattering on to your man until after dinner." Fleur turned back as Harry gave her a helpless look but was taken out onto the grounds.

That left Harry with Nicholas. "How were your grades in Potions?" Nicholas asked him as he used his wand to summon a thick and dusty tome from the wall.

"I- I got an Exceeds Expectations on my O.W.L's," Harry said still a bit uneasy at being separated from Fleur.

"Pitiful. But Albus had a terrible Professor for most of the years you would have been there, didn't he?" The old man grinned, "Severus was a genius with potions, but he was awful at teaching it. So if you got an EE, then you would have probably received an Outstanding with a competent instructor."

He summoned another book and put them both in front of Harry, "Read the first chapter of the first book and the fifteenth of the second. I have some work to do to prepare the concoction. When I'm done, you should be as well."

The books reminded Harry of the very first time he had opened one of his magical textbooks. It was a nigh-incomprehensible set of formulae and medieval looking illustrations. Still, as Harry continued to read the chapter set forth, it became more clear to him. Somewhat anyway.

Fleur and Perenelle walked towards the Charms Classroom. The old woman smiled as they stepped inside the classroom, "Some of my happiest memories involve this room." She said to Fleur. She ran her hand over one of the desks, "In my second year Nicholas and I accidentally turned this desk into a winged Alsatian."

"You were always close?" Fleur asked.

Perenelle snorted, "Hardly. I was the Heiress of a well-connected family. His father was a dung-shoveler at an Abraxian stable. I was a pompous, spoiled little girl and he was an uncommonly intelligent, if mischievous boy." She laughed at a fleeting memory, "We each hit the desk with a spell meant for the other."

"How do you deal with the years?" Fleur asked Perenelle. The idea of living for hundreds of years was at once both fascinating and terrifying. Seeing the world change would be incredible, but she didn't want to watch everyone close to her die. _Harry has already had enough of that for one lifetime..._ She thought.

Perenelle looked at the much younger woman, "You find things to keep your interest. Nicholas is a Savant, he has his focus in that lab. For me, it is charity." She looked past Fleur at the slateboard on the wall. "I have had such a wonderful life that I want to help other people enjoy theirs as well."

She turned back to Fleur's face, "In fact, I have such a project now. You two."

"What do you mean?"

"You are wearing a wedding ring. He isn't. You two obviously love each other a great deal." Perenelle ticked off each point with her fingers, "I could tell there was something between you when I first laid my eye on you." She laughed softly, "I should probably properly introduce myself." With that her features shimmered and Perenelle was replaced by a face that Fleur was certain she'd seen before but couldn't place it.

"You look so familiar...but I'm not sure why," Fleur said earning a laugh from the woman.

Perenelle wandlessly conjured a small rose, "Flowers picked this morning!"

Fleur gasped, "You? The flower woman in the park?" Confusion marred her beautiful features, "But why?"

"The exact reasons I said: you two weren't happy apart, so I wanted to help bring you along. We did not use potions or charms to do it, instead, we just made sure that when we spoke to you, we told you what the world sees." Perenelle explained, "You didn't stop smiling until Nicholas pushed us both out of his lab."

Fleur sank into the chair, "This time I thought we were falling in love because we wanted to be together. I didn't know we were being pushed into it."

"Were you?" Perenelle asked, "As I said, we didn't use any potions or charms on you two. The only thing we used was a simple tracking charm on his motorbike."

"You followed us?"

"Of course. I wanted to see the two of you fall in love on your own terms." Perenelle said shrugging, "And you did."

Fleur did love Harry. For whatever reason fate, in the form of two ancient meddlers, had nudged them together and she was glad for it. However that didn't stop her from feeling manipulated. "I will have to speak with Harry about all of this. He's had so many people using him." She sighed, "Now I feel like one more in a long line."

"You shouldn't." Perenelle replied, "You love him don't you?" Fleur nodded and she continued, "You love him, he loves you, the fact that you were both nudged into admitted it isn't a sign of one using the other."

Fleur looked at the classroom, it was easy to imagine a few blonde children sitting here learning from whomever the new Charms professor was. She remembered her promise to herself _England and the Weasley family be damned_ she thought once more.

Scene Break

"Books down." Nicholas barked to Harry as he turned from his work. "What do you think of the books?"

"It seems like something put my Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions books into a muggle blender." Harry replied, "But I think I understand what you wanted me to read."

Nicholas smiled, "Good. You take those two books and study them for the next few days. I will be working on this potion in solitude. When it is ready for your part I will send the House Elf that brought you here to summon you." He began to dump ingredients into a cauldron made of a shiny material, something between glass and black stone with a rim that looked sharp enough to cut a man to ribbons if he fell against it..

"Sir, what kind of cauldron is that?" Harry asked as he watched the man work, "I've never seen one like this." It was a black, gleaming cauldron with deep runes carved into its side that glowed red and yellow as if it was on fire.

"This is a dragon-forged cauldron." Nicholas said proudly, "It is made of obsidian formed when a dragon breathes fire onto a specially made form. The stone around the form melts and is changed into this stone. Then runes are carved into the still hot stone to make it stay hot forever." The old man smiled at his cauldron, "It will always simmer ingredients to the perfect level without any fire underneath it."

Then it was time, "Right, take the books and go find your lady. I have work to do, expect some homework from me later tonight. I'll expect it when you arrive for your part of the experiment." Nicholas shooed Harry from the lab and closed the door behind him, having given him scarcely enough time to gather his books and the Hallows.

Perenelle and Fleur came from the Charms Classroom at the same time. Fleur embraced Harry as if it had been weeks rather than a few hours. "Are you ready to go back to our room?" She asked against his neck.

"I thought we'd get something to eat first." Harry murmured into her hair, "I'm not used to having to share you anymore." That earned a giggle from her, "How about dinner and then we go back?"

She nodded and the pair left for the ward boundary.

Perenelle walked into the lab and sat down beside her husband, "She knows." Perenelle said while Nicholas slid diced Wampus claw into the cauldron.

"Knows what?" He muttered as he noted the changing color of the potion.

"About us." Perenelle said, "I told her everything."

That caused him to drop an extra ounce of diced claw into the cauldron. The potion hissed and changed to an angry yellow color. Nicholas cursed and vanished the contents before starting over. "Wonderful. I'm assuming that means that the next time we see them they will both know?" He replied as he slid minced toadskin in along with grave moss.

"Most likely." Perenelle said sighing, "But she does know that we didn't influence anything. I offered an oath to state just that."

Nicholas muttered something in Aramaic that earned a sharp elbow from his wife, "I am being serious Nic."

"So was I." He retorted, "I genuinely hope that a swarm of locusts make a nest in your back hair if you keep interrupting my work. You told her, she'll tell him, and we'll work from there. It's that simple." He shrugged and added venom from a black mamba to the concoction. "Hopefully when I summon him next he won't hold what we did against us and refuse to work with us."

"Appeal to his good nature if he does, barring that bribe him." Perenelle said, "That is what usually works isn't it?"

Her husband was lost in his own world and she sighed. Then she furrowed her brow in annoyance and smacked his shoulder hard, "I don't have any back hair, you miserable old goat!"


	10. Chapter 10

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

Back at the hotel, Fleur wasn't sure how to explain what she'd learned. She was afraid of what would happen when Harry learned that this whirlwind love affair of theirs had all began by them being 'nudged' towards each other. _Why couldn't this be what I thought it was?_ She thought miserably as she looked at Harry studying the books Nicholas Flamel had given him.

"Harry?" She began, drawing his attention. He smiled at her, the way he usually did now that they were a couple. "I- I learned something today at Beauxbatons." She drew in a steadying breath and continued, "The Flamels, we have met them before."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked curiously. He began to rack his brain, trying to remember anything that would lead him to conclude that they had met the Flamels. He was drawing a blank though and gave up.

"They have been following us since at least Toulouse." Fleur explained, "They were the old man and old woman in the park." She looked away, unwilling to meet his eyes in case she saw in them a sudden desire to go back to Ginny and try and forget her.

"Huh." Harry said softly, "You know what I'd like? Just one time? To meet people who don't look at my life and see it as their own personal gobstones game." He closed the book he had been reading and stood up from his spot on the bed. "It's six-thirty, it's time to get ready if we want to make it to the restaurant on time."

"You still wish to go out?" Fleur said in surprise.

He shrugged, "We're still together. How we came together isn't the important part to me." He walked over to her, offering his hand to help her up from her own seat by the window, "What matters is that we want to continue it."

"I want that," Fleur said putting her hand in his and standing, "more than anything." She put her arms around him and buried her head in his neck, "I was scared." She admitted quietly.

Harry hugged her tightly, feeling her almost burrow into him. "However we came together, I'm glad of it. That doesn't mean I'm going excuse them for what they did. If you had still cared about Bill-" He stopped when he felt her arms move from around him. He felt her hands move and then heard a soft clink of metal on the table. Looking down, he saw her ring sitting there.

"I should have done that the first time we made love. It escaped my notice and now I can't look at it without feeling sickened." Fleur said as she put her hands back into his. "Bill was not the man I thought he would be." She kissed him, "When we go to England, I will make it official, but I have been Fleur Delacour since our first kiss."

Scene Break

They were summoned back to Beauxbatons late the next afternoon. Harry gave Fleur a kiss at the door for the Alchemy Lab and walked inside. "Good to see you again Mr. Potter," Nicholas said, "I've been working on our project and I believe it's time for you to add your part to it."

"Before we do anything." Harry said, holding his hand up, "We need to talk about you and your wife following us."

Nicholas scoffed and continued to add things to the cauldron, "Were you hurt by this? Did you experience loss of limb or worse loss of hair?" The old man laughed quietly, "All that happened was you found the woman you loved. If anything you should be thanking Perenelle, she likes orchids by the way."

"Orchids? After you two deliberately interfered with our lives? What if Fleur didn't want to be with me? Did you think about that?" Harry said, his voice rising, "What if you two ruined a happy marriage?"

Nicholas rolled his eyes and tapped his wand on the cauldron, "If she had been so happy with her husband, then this would have just been a trip for two friends. Neither my wife nor I Mr. Potter told the two of you to do anything. We haven't used a single compulsion spell or love potion. Everything that happened, did so because you two wanted it." The old man's voice softened, "Is there something you do not like about the lovely lady or your relationship with said lovely lady?"

That stopped Harry. He knew, realistically, that he had every right to be furious with them. Even if not for his sake, for Fleur's. "She was terrified that I would reject her after finding out about you two. I was lonely, sure, when we came to France, but if she would have stayed Mrs. Fleur Weasley then that would have been fine. I'd have found someone eventually, or I wouldn't have and just raised kneazles. This would have hurt me, but you could have destroyed her." He said after a moment, "You and your wife can decide on a proper way to repay Fleur for scaring her like that. For now, what do I need to do?"

"So, you are still willing to do this?" Nicholas asked him.

"Neville lost his entire childhood. If I can give him his adulthood with them, then so be it." Harry said simply, "So what do I need to do?"

Nicholas looked at his notes, "We need to channel the spells to break a curse and cleanse poison from the unicorn blood and the troll skin. The Elder Wand is the best chance for that. While you cast those spells, I will take the Resurrection Stone and place it into the cauldron. Its necromantic energy will work with the other ingredients." He motioned to his notes, "I could let you read that, if you had a year to study them you would still be lost, no one can read my shorthand except Perenelle. Long story short, the Stone will enhance the rejuvenative properties of the potion."

With that, the two wizards began their work. The charms were written down for Harry to use and were simple enough, basic purging and cleansing spells. Using the Elder Wand, he could feel the magic as it changed the properties of the blood and skin, leaving their regenerative qualities whole but removing the taint that each item carried. The silvery unicorn blood glowed white hot before returning to its mercury silver state, the grayish troll skin lightened a small amount turning the color of the same whitish-gray of Spanish moss.

His part done, Harry turned to Nicholas, "What now?" Harry asked him.

Nicholas shushed him with a wave of his hand. The old alchemist flicked his wand and Harry's contribution sailed across the lab. Nicholas caught it without looking and opened each jar. The blood went in first. The potion spat out an acrid smell that nearly made Harry gag as the smoke went from yellowish to white. The troll skin was added and Harry heard a deep thrumming as if the potion was pulling the magic out of the skin. That was apparently what Nicholas wanted it to do as he drew the bits of skin back out of the potion. "Now, come here and use the Elder Wand to channel your magic into the potion."

"What spell?"

"Not a spell, the root of all alchemical potions is the will of the crafter. Point your wand and then concentrate on your magic, let it flow into the cauldron." Harry did as he was instructed and concentrated. He felt his magic flowing, it was like the first time he'd held his original wand, but the feeling was much stronger. Dimly, as if in another room, Harry heard Nicholas laugh and shout 'that's it, that's it!'. He looked back into the cauldron and saw that it was glowing.

"That's the ticket!" Nicholas clapped his hands excitedly, "That's it, that's it, drop your wand." He pressed Harry's arm down, "Merlin's saggy balls, it's perfect! The Hallows are much more than powerful objects Harry, they are fragments of Death itself. Now, the mixture needs to rest, go back and find your woman. Enjoy the rest of your time in France, I will send an owl in one month. Now, go!" He shooed Harry out of the lab and then slammed and locked the door behind him.

Harry found Fleur sitting on the steps outside the Charms classroom. She looked lost in thought, that appearance was proven true when she jumped as he sat down beside her. "How did it go?" She asked him quietly.

"He seemed happy," Harry said to her, taking her hand in his own. "I let him have it about how they'd been following us." He was quiet for a moment then spoke again, "He said something that made me think,"

"Oh?"

"He asked me if there was anything about our relationship I would change." He said to her. He squeezed her hand gently, "Short answer: no."

"Long answer?" Fleur asked, disliking the needy tone in her voice.

"Long answer: definitely not." Harry said bringing her hand up and kissed it, "How we got together isn't the important part. What is important is that we are together now."

That earned him a proper kiss.

Scene Break

Harry and Fleur looked at their luggage. After a quick lunch in Toulouse, they had gone back to the hotel to pack. They were on the last leg of the trip. Up next was Paris and the small apartment Fleur had been given by her parents.

"So, Paris?" Harry said as he used his wand to shrink and lighten their luggage.

Fleur laughed for the first time, Harry felt, since she'd told him everything. "Oui, onward to Paris." The idea of visiting Paris helped the knot still inside her heart untangle.

They went out, dropping their room key into a small basket on the desk in the lobby as they went out into the gravel parking lot of the hotel. The sky was clear and the sun was still high and bright as they made their way to the motorcycle.

Donning their helmets they boarded the bike. Fleur slipped her arms around his waist as Harry turned the bike on. With a roar they were off and turning northwards they joined the lines of cars and buses on their way to their own destinations. She squeezed him tightly as they made their way past a group of goods trucks. "It's about five hours, we'll get to Paris before it gets too dark." She said to him through the enchantments on the helmet.

"I know a faster way," Harry said with a grin, earning a soft smack on the shoulder that made his grin grow larger. "It's got us this far.."

"Harry James Potter, if you dare put that motorcycle in the air, I promise I will put you on the balcony of the apartment for a week!" Fleur hissed, "I want my prawns to stay in my stomach where they are supposed to be." She rolled her eyes, practically seeing him pout through the helmet, "Oh fine...but be careful. I-" She stopped as the fish-eye effect filled her vision and they took off as soon as they turned a corner.

"I love flying," Harry said once they leveled off in the sky, "The first time I really had a sense for what magic could be, was when I had my first flight on a broom." The sheer pleasure in his voice made Fleur smile. Again she had images of those children in her mind.

"You know, Veelas tend to have mostly daughters." She said to him quietly, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Oh we'll have you a son, but it may take several tries." She laughed then, "You may have a Quidditch teams worth of daughters first though."

That drew his attention, "I don't care if we have a boy." Harry said, "We don't have to be reverse-Weasleys." Harry shook his head.

"No, you deserve an heir, to carry on your family name," Fleur told him as Harry swung out of the way of a large white bird. "Besides, half the fun of having a large family is the conception." She was quiet for a few moments, "I- neither of us have bothered with protection." Her voice was serious now, "Hopefully before anything happens we will be in an acknowledged relationship." She didn't want to think of the trouble the Weasley family could make for them if she was pregnant.

"We'll be alright." Harry said to her, "You, me, and any kids who show up."

Scene Break

Perenelle found the door locked when she went to bring dinner to her husband. He hadn't come to lunch, something she was used to but still irked her. Rolling her eyes, she tapped the door with her wand and then stepped inside when the door unlocked with a click.

"Well?" She said as she saw her husband staring almost lovingly at the bubbling brew inside the cauldron. "How was your talk with Harry?" Growling softly at being ignored she sent a stinging hex at him.

"Ah! Violent shrew!" Nicholas cried, rubbing his backside, "If you must know, I pulled out the 'yes, but did you die?' card. That worked well enough. He was in enough control of himself that when he channeled his magic into the potion it was strong. Very strong indeed."

"How strong?"

"Strong enough that his magic shaved two weeks off the brewing process. When I had to do this myself a potion like this would have needed a month and a half easily. I told him to expect my owl in a month." Nicholas looked back down at the potion, "It might even be less time than that."

"You make it sound like you want him for an apprentice, you haven't had an apprentice since-" Perenelle began but stopped when the potion glowed deeply and then settled again. She looked at the potion, "It's not about to explode is it?"

"It's doing fine." Nicholas said, "It's the most potent regenerative potion I've ever seen." He shrugged, "As for the apprentice part, why wouldn't I want him as an apprentice? With that wand of his, he could cut our wait time in half." The old man stepped back from the potion almost reluctantly, "I'll bring it up after he's had time to cool off."

Perenelle scoffed and drew a sandwich out of her pocket, "Eat your lunch, or should I say your dinner." She smirked as Nicholas stared at the watercress sandwich, "It's your favorite."

Nicholas groaned and took a bite of the sandwich. He chewed glumly for a moment and then spoke, "For the love of Mab's knickers woman, couldn't you at least put some pate in this? If I wanted to eat grass I'd transfigure myself into a cow!"

"The doctor said no organ meats and you aren't getting any organ meats no matter how much you pout." Perenelle told him, "Greens, vegetables, fish, fruits, and olive oil. That's what you get unless you want to be alive but immobile in a bed."

"You and that stupid 'Mediterranean diet'." Nicholas said finishing the sandwich, "I had enough of that diet when I was a boy. I like meat and cheese."

"And your colon doesn't!" Perenelle finished giving him a mug of grape juice. "No wine until you get your blood pressure down."

Functional immortality, Nicholas Flamel mused, wasn't always what it was cracked up to be.


	11. Chapter 11

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

Fleur's pied a terre in Paris was a comfortable one bedroom apartment just outside of downtown Paris. Overlooking a small park that reminded them both of the little park where they'd met the Flamels, without knowing it, of course, it was a welcome respite from the events at Beauxbatons.

Finding out that the Flamels had 'nudged' them together had been very troubling at first. Fleur was still worried that Harry's reassurances were for both of them and not just her. _So many have used him. Even this couldn't be ours alone..._ She thought as she watched Harry getting dressed for the day. After arriving in Paris, they had stopped only long enough to pick up the things they would need for breakfast. The flight had been much shorter than the drive would have been and for that, she was grateful, even if she didn't think she would ever be as comfortable as he was in the air.

Their eyes met and Harry smiled at her, "So," he began, "what do you want to do with our first full day in Paris?"

That drew Fleur from her thoughts. "I was thinking the first day we could take it easy. We've been active so often since this began, it would be nice to just rest for the day." In truth, she just wanted to avoid the possibility that someone would try to embroil them in some new drama. "We can go to the market later and get things for dinner. Or we can just order something."

"You have a telephone?" Harry was surprised by that.

Fleur smiled, "I do. Besides apparation, I don't use very much magic here. I didn't for the few weeks I stayed here anyway." She opened her trunk and drew out the light blue blouse he liked for her to wear, "My parents used this as a bribe when I told them I wanted to go to England to work for Gringotts. Papa understood that I was an adult and wanted to see more of the world-" _and that I was enamored with Bill Weasley..._ "Maman however, she felt that I should stay closer to home."

Harry laughed softly, "I'm glad you didn't." Harry said, pulling her close to him.

She kissed him before pushing back from him so she could put on the blouse, "I am too. Otherwise, I would have had to come to England and kidnap you." She giggled at the exaggerated look of disappointment as her bra was hidden behind the blue silk.

"Feel free to tie me up and have your wicked way with me whenever you want," Harry said smirking as Fleur blushed prettily. He turned to put on his shoes and heard a low laugh. Turning he saw Fleur flick her wand and suddenly he was back on the bed, covering in ropes. "I suppose I asked for this," Harry said to her.

"You did." She said with a laugh, canceling the ropes and pulling him back off the bed. "But seeing as we had just gotten dressed, getting undressed seems wasteful." She kissed him again, "As it is, I do want to get to the market before too late in the day."

"Why is that?" Harry asked her as they finally left the bedroom and made their way into the main living/dining area of the apartment. The night before, when they'd arrive,d there, there hadn't really been time to take stock of the place. It was clean and spacious, Fleur had mentioned that her parents had hired a cleaning service to keep the place tidy when she was in England. The walls were a warm off-white that, as Harry went to brew a pot of coffee for them, made him think of the warm sand of a tropical beach he'd seen in a movie during one of the few dates he'd had with Ginny where they'd went into Muggle London.

Ginny. This was the first time he'd thought about his ex-fiancee since coming to France without her coming up in a conversation. Eventually, they had to go back to England and they would have to dissolve Fleur's marriage to Bill and on that day there was no way he wouldn't have to face Ginny.

Fleur's voice drew him from his musing. "-after we pick up our groceries, we can have a quiet day inside. If you wish to study the books I can cook for us tonight." She blinked at him, "Did you hear what I was saying? You seemed a thousand miles away."

Harry sighed softly, he wouldn't treat this relationship the way he treated injuries during his time at Hogwarts. This was not the time or the place for 'fine', this was a time for honesty. "I was just thinking about the mess we are walking into when we go back to England. While we are in Paris, do you think we could go to the French Ministry? I need to use the international floo and check on Andromeda and Teddy, hopefully, none of the Weasleys have bothered her."

Fleur nodded, "We can use the one in my father's office. We need to tell my family as well." That idea didn't fill her with joy. Her father would be supportive, he liked Harry well enough and would always prefer his daughter to be with the person she loved. It was her mother that worried her. Apolline Delacour was a proud woman, the possible scandal would be enough to cause her to dislike Harry even more than she had at the manor.

Harry noticed the way she seemed to withdraw into herself. He drew her into his arms. Fleur sighed softly and closed her eyes. The now familiar scent of Harry calmed her, a fact that caused her lips to curl very slightly as she clung to him. "What if they hate us?" She said after another moment, finally saying the worry she'd been holding onto since the first kiss.

"I- I don't know Fleur. I don't really have a plan for any of this." Harry said softly, "If they don't approve of us, then-" words failed him then. He drew in a breath, "If you decide that you don't want to lose them-"

"I don't want to lose you." She said firmly, "My parents will either support our being together, or they will lose the chance to meet their eventual grandchildren." She took his hands in hers, "I love you." She told him, blue eyes meeting green.

"I love you too." He said, his eyes going down to their hands. His thumb went across the back of her hand. "Let's do this." Harry said quietly.

Scene Break

They went to the French Ministry later that morning. Fleur led Harry to a small square in the Sixth district, "This is Furstemburg Square," She said as they approached a small fountain flanked by trees. "More importantly, this is the public entrance to the Ministry." She looked around them, the square was mostly deserted except for an old man snoozing on a bench. "Touch the fountain," Fleur directed him quietly. Harry nodded and they each put a hand on the fountain. Slowly the ground began to lower and Harry and Fleur found themselves on a lift made from the roots of the trees on either side of the fountain.

"A thought occurs." Harry said after a moment, "Muggle-repelling wards exist, correct? Why not just use them instead of putting everything underneath the city?"

"It's easier to hide a building by putting more buildings on top of it," Fleur said as they found themselves in the glowing glass atrium of the French Ministry. She felt much more at home here than when she'd been at the English Ministry. This was home, a place she'd been to many times as a little girl.

Would Harry find work at the Ministry? She knew that if her father believed they were serious about each other, that he would do his best to find something for Harry. And, with a squeeze of his hand to let him know she was thinking about the future, Fleur knew that Harry would be open to it, even if it was just to make her happy. _We do not have to go straight into finding work for him now_ Fleur reasoned as she led him from the Atrium towards the office her father used. _That is for another time after we've dealt with everything._

"They like their glass, don't they?" Harry said quietly as they walked along the corridor. That, Fleur had to admit was fair. The panes of enchanted glass were used to both light the way and make the great domes that acted as hubs for the offices and departments of the Ministry. Harry looked up and saw that dome they were leaving had constellations etched onto it. He spotted the star Sirius and an old ache settled in his heart. Sirius would have approved of them together, he knew. He knew he'd imagined it, but he would swear later that he'd saw the star twinkle as if Sirius had winked at him.

Looking back down, Harry saw slinking cat-like beings traveling alongside the Ministry workers. "Matagots." Fleur explained, "They do some of the work here, mostly message delivery and security." She noted the look on his face as he looked at the scrawny animals, "They are resistant to spells. If you hit them with a stunning spell, you would be facing two very angry Matagots." A grin traced her lips, "Besides, I seem to recall that a very skinny young wizard was the one who defeated a very powerful Dark Lord."

He rolled his eyes at her teasing, earning a chuckle from the blonde. Harry and Fleur arrived at the door to her father's office. _Jean-Luc Delacour-_ _Directeur adjoint de l'application de la loi magique_ a plaque beside the door proclaimed. Fleur paused for a moment and then knocked on the door. " _Entrez!_ " her father's voice called to them. She took his hand and squeezed it before letting go and then opening the door.

Jean-Luc smiled as he looked up from his paperwork. "Fleur, it's a surprise to see you here! A welcome one, but a surprise nonetheless! Harry, it's good to see you again as well." He rose and embraced his daughter, before shaking Harry's hand. "What brings you two here? It's a bit early, but I wouldn't say no if you'd care for some lunch?"

"Papa, I-" Fleur began, she stopped and took in a deep breath, "Papa, Harry and I are together. I am leaving Bill and Harry and I are in love." It all came out in one rush, the words nearly melding into each other. To his credit, Jean-Luc only blinked in confusion for a moment.

"I see." Her father said slowly, "I- and you two came to tell me so that I can ease your mother into the knowledge that exactly what she thought was going to happen, happened?"

Fleur shook her head, "No Papa, we came here because Harry wanted to borrow your floo to check on his godson." She looked at Harry for a moment and then turned back to Jean-Luc, "Honestly, I wanted to keep this a secret until Harry and I were married." She admitted with a light blush on her cheeks, "But, if the man I love is a Gryffindor, then I can be brave enough to tell you and- and my mother."

"I see." Jean-Luc repeated, "Well you are of course welcome to borrow my floo, Harry. Fleur, will you accompany your father to the cafe? Your man will need some privacy and I haven't bought you a chocolate bar in some time." His voice was light, but Fleur knew what he was saying, _we need to talk, now._ She kissed Harry's cheek and stepped to the door. Jean-Luc looked at Harry appraising him with the practiced eye of a father, "Harry, the powder is in the small silver box on the corner of the mantle. If a message comes for me, please tell the Matagot that you are in here on my approval." With that, he led his daughter out of the room.

Now alone, Harry knew the nerves that had filled Fleur's stomach. He had to kneel into the flames and tell Andromeda what had been going on. _Right Potter. Grab the dust and get to talking._ He steeled himself before reaching into the box and taking a pinch of powder. "Tonks house!" He called into the now green flames.

A few moments later he saw Andromeda's face wreathed in emerald flames, "Harry? I'm glad you called, I need to talk to you." She looked angry about something. He saw the tip of a smaller head, _She must be holding Teddy..._ he thought with a smile at the sight of his godson.

"Go with yours first Andi, my news is kind of big." Harry said settling into a high backed leather chair beside the fireplace. _Jean-Luc must keep this here for long conversations..._ he thought as he leaned towards the fireplace.

"Nymphadora was in the frame at Grimmauld Place when Ginny Weasley came in with a bottle of wine." She began, "She was concerned that Ginny was there to do something and asked me to come over. By the time I'd gotten there, Kreacher had already disposed of the wine, but he said that it had been potioned."

Harry frowned in confusion, "Why would she be in my house?" From the look on Andromeda's face, it was clear that wasn't the takeaway that she'd expected.

"What about the potion?" She said sharply, "That might be more important than her merely being in the house itself." Her shoulders moved and Harry saw the head of Teddy switch sides. "We believe she was trying to give you a love potion."

Harry felt a throb of anger settle just north of his left ear. "She would have had help then. She passed Potions, but she was in the middle of the class from what Luna told me." His lips thinned in annoyance, "I'll have to tell Fleur, she'll be furious."

"Speaking of Fleur, Hestia Jones came to see me. Her sister Megan, she was on patrol and saw Bill coming out of Theresa Zabini's home. Early in the morning." Andromeda hadn't reminded him this much of her elder sister since the day he'd come to tell her that Tonks and Remus had died in the Battle of Hogwarts.

"Well, considering what my news is that won't be quite as bad as it could be." He drew in a breath, "Fleur and I are- well, we're together now. She is planning on divorcing him." He watched Teddy pull himself higher on the stooped woman's shoulder, "Hi Teddy." He said to the little boy.

Teddy babbled happily at him, Andromeda looked at Harry drawing his attention back, "You and Fleur are together? When did this happen?" Harry leaned back and began to tell her a, heavily edited, version of coming to realize that he was in love. Some of the faint traces of disappointment on her face faded and a small curl of her lip told him that she was trying to hide a smile. "You look like Ted when he would talk to people about me." She said after a moment, her eyes suspiciously bright. "How much longer will you two be in France?"

"At least a few more days. I'm working on a project that, if it works, will let me help Neville." Harry said, "I don't want to jinx it, so I'm not going to say anything else about it." Harry heard the door opening, "Do you think the situation with Ginny warrants me coming back?" Harry asked as one of the Matagots came into the office with a small stack of letters in a pouch slung over its shoulder. It looked at him for a moment but proceeded to pull a letter out with its teeth and place it on the desk.

"She hasn't tried anything else. Remus thinks she's assuming that you'll have it when you return from your trip." Andromeda told him, "Your friend Hermione has come over looking for you though. She left a letter for you if you'd prefer I can send it via owl instead of you waiting."

"Please, I'll give you the address, we are staying at is 4312 Avenue Hoche in Paris, apartment 232." Harry told her, "I'll use the owl to send Teddy something, we're going shopping after this and I'll find him a present."

Andromeda laughed then, "No more toys. He has too many as it is." They disconnected the call and Harry sat back. A few minutes later Jean-Luc and Fleur came back. Fleur seemed more at peace than when she'd left. She kissed his cheek again and Harry rose, embracing her.

"So, how was your call?" Jean-Luc said pleasantly.

Harry sighed then, his smile dropping, "Ginny stopped at Grimmauld Place," He told Fleur, "She left a bottle of wine that Kreacher threw out because it had a potion added." Harry saw the look in his love's eyes and pulled her into an embrace. "For all we know it was just a potion to make my hair fall out." He said to her quietly.

Fleur sighed softly and took comfort from his arms, "I hope so. Not that I want you bald, but the other possibilities-" He knew what she meant: poison, a love potion, there were many things that could have been in that bottle. "Was there anything else going on?" She asked him.

Harry shook his head, "Nothing really, there was one other thing but we can talk about it over dinner tonight." He turned to Jean-Luc, "Thank you for the use of your floo sir."

The older man smiled, "It is no trouble, however, I do expect you two to have dinner before you go back to England, do you understand me?" When they both nodded he waved them back to the door, "Go then, enjoy the day." He sat back down and looked at the letter the Matagot dropped off. He was back to work now and so they stepped back out into the hallway and began the walk back to the atrium.

Harry had no idea how to tell Fleur what Andromeda had told him. Hopefully, they would be able to linger in the market while they shopped for Teddy's present.


	12. Chapter 12

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

It was nearly an hour later before Fleur commented on Harry's mental state. "You have been staring at stuffed bears without actually seeing them for ten minutes. Is the conversation with Andromeda still on your mind?" Fleur asked him, drawing his hand into hers, "She didn't- she doesn't approve of us does she?"

That made Harry laugh softly, "She said when I talked to her about you that I reminded her of her husband when he would talk about her. It's definitely not that, it's the- it's Bill." As he got to the end of his sentence the smile fell away, "I work with Megan Jones, Hestia's little sister. She was on patrol and saw him leaving a house very early in the morning." Harry grimaced at how uncomfortable this was, "So when she saw it she went and told Andromeda."

"It was Zabini's home wasn't it?"

Harry looked at her in shock. Now it was Fleur's turn to stare at the stuffed animals blankly. "She always made a point to use Grimberk. He's the goblin that I work directly under, so I would see her whenever she came to his office for something." A look of utter disgust filled her eyes, "She always had this little smirk when she would see me. I thought it was the usual racism of a bitch like her, but now? She was sleeping with Bill the entire time and luxuriated in my stupidity."

"I'm sorry Fleur," Harry said quietly as he drew her into a hug. He didn't know what else to say as he felt her shiver slightly. "Do you want to go back to the flat? We can shop later."

She nodded morosely against him. _Why does this hurt so badly?_ Fleur thought as they walked back out of the small shop and back onto the small side street near the fountain they had used to enter the Ministry. _I was cheating on him with Harry. If anything, I should be relieved that he was as much a bastard as-as I was to him._ She felt sickened. The happiness she'd felt at finding Harry had vanished as she began to dwell on the fact that she was an adulteress. She barely noticed as Harry raised his hand to call for a taxi when they arrived at the main street of this neighborhood. She heard him say something to the driver and felt herself being maneuvered into the backseat. As the car sped down the road leading back to her apartment she finally noticed that she was crying again.

"H-harry?" She said after a moment of staring at her face in the reflection of the window without actually seeing herself. "What if I do the same thing to you? I cheated on Bill. I could-" She stopped when she looked at his face. She'd never seen him look so determined.

"You didn't cheat on Bill out of the blue Fleur." He took her hand once more, his thumb running across the back of her hand. "Bill had been steadily neglecting you."

Fleur didn't respond. Not until they were back at the apartment. Harry had steered her to the couch and sat down beside her. "Do you truly believe that I won't betray you?" She asked him quietly, "How can you trust me like this?"

"Because I love you." Harry said simply. He pulled her into an embrace on the couch, "Bill cheated on you because he didn't see what he had. We came together because we needed each other."

"You hardly need me, Harry Potter." Fleur scoffed only to stop when she saw the look in his eyes.

"I will always need you Fleur."

All she could do was kiss him after that.

Scene Break

The owl bearing Andromeda's letter came the next day. Luckily by the time it arrived, Harry and Fleur had gone back out and found Teddy's present. The tawny owl flew off, a paper-wrapped parcel containing a stuffed Niffler full of chocolate coins wrapped to its leg. Harry sat at the kitchen table and began to read while Fleur prepared them each a cup of coffee.

 _Dear Harry,_

 _I hope you are having a good time. Ron told me that you had finally taken your leave which is good, you really do have a habit of overworking yourself you know. Still, I wish you would have taken the full three weeks instead of just two, you need plenty of time to find your center again after the fight with Ginny._

 _Ron asked me to ask you if you'd seen his copy of the wardstone that lets us into Grimmauld Place. He's misplaced his and has torn our flat apart looking for it. I told him that you would have brought it over if you'd seen it, but you know how he is when he thinks he knows what happened._

 _Ginny and I aren't talking at the moment. Ron has agreed with me that she was out of line, which surprised me. Normally the Weasleys are a mostly united front but he and George both are not willing to let her run roughshod over them. (I joked over breakfast that it was because that's my job now.)_

 _Judging by rumors that I've heard, Fleur is with you. If so, please give her my love. Thank Merlin that Ginny hasn't figured out that you two are traveling together or she would think you two were sleeping together. After the fight, you two got into when she thought you and I had slept together during the winter we spent together I wouldn't wish that on anyone._

 _Please respond soon, I miss catching up over lunch with you._

 _Love from, Hermione_

Harry put down the paper and laughed softly, "I think I know how Ginny got into the house. Ron's lost his key to my place." He looked up as Fleur brought him a cup, "Thanks." Harry said and took a sip of the hot brew. "She says 'hello' by the way. She also said that they are also on my side of the argument along with George."

"So, we have two Weasleys and Hermione on our side." Fleur mused, "May I?" She indicated the letter. When Harry nodded she took and began to read it slowly, "I actually can see why Ginny thought you might have been with her. She writes to you so familiarly."

"Well she's one of my best friends-" Harry said defensively. He stopped when he heard Fleur giggle. "What's so funny?"

"You are. I'm not saying you two were in love or have even been together. But, I am saying that the way she writes to you is probably very similar to how she would write to Ron." Fleur explained, the smile not leaving her face.

"You're in a better mood this morning," Harry said, draining his cup. "I'm glad."

"I am." Fleur agreed, "I thought about our conversation and you are right. Bill squandered our relationship. I don't want that for ours, so we will always talk about how we feel." She smiled as Harry took her hand, "We will work through problems when we have them, together."

"Together," Harry repeated before kissing her.

The kiss was returned, and Fleur slid into his lap to kiss him properly. After a time, however, she broke the kiss, "Our first such problem is tonight. While you were in the shower I received a patronus from my father. We are expected back at the manor tonight for dinner and my mother will accept nothing short of Voldemort's return from the dead a second time as an excuse."

"Technically he was only mostly dead the first time around," Harry said as his brain processed the idea of having dinner with the Delacours now that Apolline knew their status.

"You are splitting hairs, my love," Fleur said kissing him again. "We are expected at six-thirty."

"I'll wear something nice in case you have to bury me." Harry retorted, earning a smack in the arm from his lover.

Scene Break

The rest of the morning passed quietly. Harry penned a response to Hermione and they dropped it off at an owl post shop before preparing to leave Paris. This time they would apparate instead using his motorcycle, a fact that Harry suspected would annoy Gabrielle who had enjoyed flying with Harry.

"Let me fix your tie." Fleur said as the pair got dressed later that afternoon. She crossed the bedroom to the mirror where Harry stood scowling at his reflection. She shooed his hands down from the tie and began to fix the knot. "Calm down Harry, this isn't the first time you've met them after all."

Harry went to reply but stopped as Fleur pressed a kiss to his lips. As the kiss broke he smiled as green eyes met blue, "Last time we met your mother merely suspected we were clandestine lovers. Now she knows it." He drew in a breath and continued, "I just don't want her to hate you."

"She won't hate me." Fleur said, more to soothe herself than him. "To be honest, she didn't care for the Weasley family. She and Molly got into a rather heated discussion regarding her placement of my side of the family at the reception dinner." Fleur moved to face the mirror and smoothed down the soft blue dress she was wearing. "She is no doubt disappointed that we didn't wait until I'd broken things off with Bill."

Fleur sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I think though if we hadn't had that kiss on my bed, that we wouldn't have gotten to this point. Without that kiss, I would have still been determined to make the best of my marriage. If that would have failed I would have come back to France and, most likely, would have married someone here."

Harry sat down beside her taking her hand. She squeezed it and looked from their hands to his face. "I want you to know that I do not regret any part of how we came to be. I love you Harry Potter, and when the time comes, and I am no longer Fleur Weasley then I will be proud to be Fleur Potter."

For a time neither spoke. Then Fleur felt a buzz from her wand. "It's time to leave." She said, rising slowly from the bed, drawing him back up with her. Once they were both up and ready to leave, Fleur took his arm and they vanished from the bedroom with a soft crack.

Arriving at the gate to Delacour manor, Harry and Fleur watched the bronze bird flutter away from his post to announce them to her parents. After a moment, the gate silently opened, and the pair stepped onto the grounds. The feeling, Harry mused, was very similar to walking out of the tent to face the Horntail. _We won't die, but that doesn't mean we won't be bloody miserable._ He thought as he saw Mr. Delacour standing at the door waiting for them.

"Hello Flower, Harry, welcome back," Jean-Luc said as he shook Harry's hand and then leaned in to kiss his daughter's cheek. "Your mother and Gabrielle are finishing their preparations. I thought it would give us a chance to talk while we wait."

"What about sir?" Harry asked cautiously, feeling rather like a little boy who'd been caught by the teacher, even though he knew that of the two parents this was the one most likely to be sympathetic to them. Fleur seemed to notice his tension and reached a slim hand to take his own. Harry felt some of his worry ease away as he felt her hand in his.

Jean-Luc smirked as he looked at them, "What are your plans to ensure that my daughter is happy and taken care of?" He laughed as he saw the shock on their faces, "Do you really think after our conversation that I would shirk my fatherly duties and not interrogate my future son-in-law?"

"I- well we-," Harry stopped and drew a breath to gather his thoughts.

Fleur saw this and took pity. "We have discussed living in the countryside here in France. Perhaps near one of the communes." She explained to her father, "I can move to the Paris branch of Gringotts and Harry is open to the idea of working at the Ministry." She smiled over to Harry, "Neither of us are particularly keen to stay in England once I end things with Bill."

"I see. You say 'open' to working at the Ministry. You both are aware that we do not conscript our workers yes?" Jean-Luc said laughing. "If you'd like I can see what openings there are and tell you whom to contact."

"Thank you, sir," Harry said quickly.

The conversation stopped as Apolline and Gabrielle came into the entrance hall. Gabrielle walked over to Harry and Fleur and stood between them wearing a soft pink dress. Apolline looked to Harry like a Valkyrie in an ivory gown. She looked at her eldest daughter and then at Harry. "Dinner is ready. We will be having our meal in the east wing." She said to them before turning away.

"She is upset with you two." Gabrielle stage whispered to Harry and Fleur. Considering she had looked at her daughter and Harry like they had walked in wearing Death Eaters robes, Harry thought that had been clear enough to not be stated. Fleur rubbed her temples as they walked along behind them.

"We can tell that Gabrielle." Harry said quietly earning a giggle from the younger girl. "Are you planning on torturing your sister and I all night?"

"Oh, absolutely. You need to get used to your status as my new big brother and favorite target." Gabrielle said casually.

Harry resisted the urge to groan as they stopped at the dining room Apolline had chosen for the evening. The Delacour home had two dining rooms, this one was not the same one they had eaten in before. This one faced the east and as the sun sank in the opposite direction they didn't need to worry about the sun in their eyes. It was also, Harry noticed, significantly fancier looking.

"Jean-Luc has already told me that you two are together now," Apolline said as they sat down at the table. "What I want to know is how you plan on managing the fallout from your decision to jump into things instead of waiting to end the relationship with Bill Weasley." It wasn't a request, Harry noticed, and once more he found himself thinking about the Horntail. Apolline Delacour, like the dragon, was a foreboding mother and it took very little for Harry to imagine her breathing flames.

"We have discussed moving to France," Fleur said to her mother. "I can transfer to Gringotts Paris, but if they do not wish to hire me then I will do as you did and stay at our home and take care of our children."

Apolline scoffed lightly, "Are you already pregnant?"

Fleur rose swiftly from the table. "I will not let you insult us like this!"

Harry gently pulled Fleur back down and put his hand on hers. "I don't care what people say about me." He said to Apolline, "I love Fleur and any scandal people try to cause instead of having lives of their own is worth it to me."

Fleur leaned into him. "Harry is not Bill. That is enough for me, it should be enough for you." She said looking at her mother. "Bill-" She drew in a steadying breath, "He betrayed me. Had been for some time if my suspicions are correct."

Jean-Luc frowned, "What do you mean?"

"One of Harry's colleagues in London was on an early morning patrol. She saw Bill leaving a home in the early hours of the morning. That home belongs to a woman named Theresa Zabini. Whenever she banks at Gringotts she has always had an especially foul look when she sees me." Fleur leaned against Harry for comfort, "Now I know why."

Apolline looked at her husband. For once, Harry saw the fury in her eyes that wasn't directed at them. "So, that miserable harpy insults my family and you made me smile. Now her son has disgraced our daughter." Harry saw a sheen of white feathers rising along her arm. "I am not smiling this time Jean-Luc."

"Neither am I." Jean-Luc said putting his hand on hers. The feathers began to retract back, revealing smooth skin once more. "Your cousin Geneviève, her husband is a law-wizard, isn't he?"

She nodded. "Peter is." She looked at Harry and Fleur, "Tomorrow you two are going to see Fleur's uncle Peter. He has an office in Strasbourg. We will get you the address before you leave."

Dinner, thankfully, was much less stressful after that. After dinner, Jean-Luc retreated to his private office, returning with a small business card. "Here we are, Peter Lalaurie, his office is on Rue Michel Baltzer. The closest apparation point is a park." Jean-Luc pulled a well-worn map from his pockets, "This is the same map Aurors here use when they need to find a place. Keep this copy, once you are living in France, you will need it to get around." Harry looked down at the map and saw that, like the Marauders Map, it had moving dots on it. Jean-Luc noticed his stare and smiled, "Those dots are the other Aurors. This way Aurors can ensure they have a backup."

"I wish we had this at our Ministry," Harry said as he kept looking at the dots. "Thank you, sir."

He said to Jean-Luc who laughed, "None of that. Jean-Luc from now on, do you understand me?" Harry nodded and Jean-Luc shook his hand before embracing Fleur, "You take care of yourselves and come back soon." With that, Harry and Fleur left the manor and made their way back to Paris.

Apparating back to the apartment, Fleur sat down on the couch and kicked off her shoes. "That went better than I thought it would." She said as she reclined back into the cushion. When Harry sat down, she placed her feet in his lap. Harry got the hint and began to rub her feet, earning a grateful groan from the woman. "Thank you, Harry," Fleur said, closing her eyes and relaxing.

"We have a lot to do. I suppose I need to send in my resignation from the Aurors department and prepare to tell everyone that we are staying here." Harry said as he continued to rub her feet. "I will admit that I feel better now that I've said it out loud."

Fleur didn't respond. Harry looked and saw that she had dozed off. He laughed softly and carried her back to the bedroom. They had a lot to do, _might as well get some sleep…_


	13. Chapter 13

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

The law office of Peter Lalaurie was a small brick building in the historic district of Strasbourg. It sat sandwiched between a bakery and a bookshop and Peter, a short and stocky sandy-haired man in his late thirties, could not ask for a better place. Each morning he went to his left and bought a croissant to go with his tea and when he closed the office for his lunch break, if he didn't go home to his wife, he would go to the bookstore and look through the new arrivals.

Today, however, he was waiting for his niece and her new boyfriend. Fleur had sent a Patronus to him the evening before asking for a meeting. His wife sent the response for him and now, as he checked his clock, he saw that he had five more minutes until she arrived. "Eva, will you please bring me the notes I made on the Marconi case?" He called out as he drew out a sheet of paper and began to write down the days date.

"Coming, Papa." Came a voice from the hallway. A few moments later a woman about the same age as Fleur stepped into the office with a stack of papers. She had curly hair the same color as her fathers, but she was much taller and thinner than Peter with many small silver earrings that ran up and down each of her ears. "Here they are. When are Fleur and her new beau showing up?" She asked as she set the stack on his desk. "If they are going to be here soon, I'll go and grab some treats from the bakery."

"That's a wonderful idea." Peter replied smiling, "They will be here in a few moments." With that, she walked out of the office. Peter rose from his desk and stepped out into the lobby of the office. His wristwatch beeped eleven he watched as a pair on a motorcycle pulled up at the meter in front of his office. _That must be them._ He thought as he opened the door to greet them.

"Uncle Peter!" Fleur said as she saw the man. She rushed over and hugged the older man before releasing him and turning to Harry. "Harry, this is my uncle Peter Lalaurie. Uncle Peter, this is Harry- "

"I know who Harry Potter is," Peter said laughing as he shook Harry's hand. "Come inside, Eva will be back shortly." He led them into the office and then back into the paneled room he used when meeting clients. "Have a seat, I will go and get my notes and then return." With that, Harry and Fleur were alone in the room as Peter departed.

"I wasn't expecting your uncle to be British," Harry said quietly as he surveyed the tasteful oil paintings on the wall. The meeting room had a distinct feel to it, it seemed to say, 'you are in good hands with Peter Lalaurie.'.

"Uncle Peter doesn't talk much about England." Fleur explained, "His family cast him out due to his magical ability."

"Muggleborn?"

"No, I am a squib." Peter was back at the doorway and his voice drew their attention. Unlike Filch, who had considered his status a mark of deepest shame, Peter didn't seem in the least bit upset. "My family waited until I was sixteen and then cast me out with a small number of galleons. I moved to France to be farther away from them and that was when I met Fleurs aunt Genevieve."

"To hear her tell it, you crashed into her during a tour of Notre Dame," Fleur said with a smile, "Knocked her into the vestibule I think."

"She would tell you that." Peter grumbled good-naturedly, "In any case," he said sitting across from them, "I didn't hear from my family until my cousin Molly snubbed our invitation to Fleur's wedding. Fleur invited us on her side, but Genevieve didn't think it safe to travel at the time."

"Wait, you are Mrs. Weasleys' cousin?" Harry said astounded.

Peter nodded, "We are not very close as you can guess, there is a reason I took my wife's name instead of keeping mine." Again, he didn't seem particularly upset by the discussion. Harry was reminded of something Ron had told him once about the Weasleys having a second cousin that was an accountant. _Apparently, Ron had been mistaken._ He thought as Peter turned to greet a young woman carrying a small package, "Harry, this is Evangeline, my daughter. Evangeline, this is Har- "

"I know who he is Daddy," Evangeline said rolling her eyes and setting her package down, opening it to reveal a half dozen croissants. "Fleur wrote to me about him when she invited us to the wedding." She laughed and settled down beside her father, "I think she was going to set us up. Pity she snagged you instead."

Fleur, almost imperceptibly, moved closer to Harry. The only one who noticed was Evangeline whose eyes glinted with mirth. "So, to business," Peter said, "Tell me everything and then we will work out on a way to proceed."

Harry and Fleur explained everything about Bill's infidelity. Harry explained about Megan Jones seeing Bill leaving the Zabini home and Ginny sneaking into his house to leave a suspicious potion in his home. Fleur told her uncle about Teresa Zabini's behavior at Gringotts and helped him expand the timeline of her husbands' dalliances. "So, this seems fairly straightforward." Peter said looking up from his work, "If Auror Jones is willing to send me the memory, we should be able to proceed with a quick no-fault divorce and a full fifty/fifty split of the family resources."

That declaration seemed to lighten something inside Fleur's heart. "How long do you think it will take?" She asked Peter carefully. That was the only thing that could ruin this, "What if Bill is in Egypt?"

"He will be sent a summons with a delayed action portkey on it." Peter said, "He will have every opportunity to be heard. As for the timeline, it shouldn't take very long for me to drop off the paperwork. Let's put it at less than two weeks if he is reasonable and if he isn't…" His face grew more stern, "Then he will lose his say in the matter and you will still be free of him."

"Thank you, sir," Harry said, "How much will it cost to- "

"Fleur is my niece." Peter said simply, waving him off. "I don't charge family." He looked from Harry to Fleur, "Now this is important, at no time, do I want you two to have contact with Bill Weasley, do you understand? You might want to rush out and hex him, but all that would do is drag your names deeper into the muck. It would feel good, but it would hurt your case."

The admonishment seemed to work, Harry and Fleur nodded. The stern look left his face and Peter smiled again, "Wonderful. Now, it will take me a few hours to get the paperwork completed and dropped off. Why don't you two go back to Paris and I'll call you in the morning."

"I haven't seen Fleur in years." Evangeline interrupted her father, "Let's get some lunch before you leave town, what do you think?" Her eyes went from her cousins to Harrys, "I want to hear this story in more detail." She said with a teasing glint that Harry knew he wasn't going to like.

"That sounds like fun." Fleur said before turning to Harry, "Will you join us or go back to the flat?"

Harry squeezed her hand as he rose, "You two have fun. I'll go back to Paris with the motorcycle if you want to apparate back." She nodded and then pulled him back down to kiss him. This was the first time she'd kissed him in front of her family. Somehow it made the whole thing feel more real as their lips touched. "I'll have dinner started at six." He told her, "I'm going to check out that market near our building." Seeing the smile grow when he referred to it as their place caused Harry's smile to widen. Eventually, they parted and with another round of thank you's and another handshake with Peter, Harry left.

They heard the motorcycle roar off outside. "He's got a long drive ahead of him." Evangeline said to Fleur, "How does he think he'll have time to shop for anything?"

"Harry's motorcycle flies." She replied simply. Seeing the look on her cousin's face she laughed softly, "It has a double layer of invisibility and notice-me-not charms on it as well as another charm meant to hide it from muggle cameras."

"Damn," Evangeline said softly. She grabbed Fleur's hand and pulled her out towards the exit, "I'll see you at home Dad!" She cried before the door opened and closed leaving Peter alone to finish his paperwork. Peter laughed to himself at the excitable nature of his eldest and then stood up to walk into his office.

Scene Break

"Alright. Spill. I want everything." Evangeline said once she and Fleur had been shown to their table. She had half-dragged her cousin down the street until they came to the bistro owned by her boyfriend Michel's father. Michel had greeted them with a kiss for Evangeline and then put them in 'the gossip table' as he had termed it. Evangeline used this table, partially hidden from the window that showed the street outside whenever she wanted to talk with someone.

"It's not as exciting as you seem to think it is. Bill made me angry during a fight, so I decided to come to France, Harry came with me- "

"Because that's what a 'good friend' does." Evangeline teased her with a laugh.

"Shut up," Fleur said rolling her eyes, "Now then, we made our way home where of course my mother knew that there was something between us."

"Because you two constantly look like you are debating finding an empty room and- "

This time it was Fleur who interrupted, "Because as much as I hate to admit it, I had already had some more than friendly feelings regarding Harry." She said speaking over Evangeline. "We kissed that night. It was a very short kiss, but it was all I could think of for the rest of the evening. The next day, at a craft fair, we kissed again." Fleur smiled as she thought about it, "We went to Beauxbatons afterward. Apparently, the Flamels had heard we were coming and wanted to meet us. Wanted to meet Harry." She corrected herself after a moment.

"Well, of course, they wouldn't want to meet the Beauxbatons graduate who helped end the reign of a Dark Lord. Bit silly of you to think they would honestly." Evangeline teased her lightly. "So, what happened?"

"We met with them, Mr. Flamel has essentially forced Harry into becoming an assistant with one of his experiments." Fleur replied pausing as Michel walked over with two orders of his girlfriends usual. Each girl began to eat their sandwiches before she began again, "Now we are in sort of a holding pattern until Harry goes back to London to resign from the Ministry."

"What's the temper of your man like?" Evangeline asked her, "Do you think he'll be a good little boy and work his notice or will he burst into Shell Cottage and kick Bill's ass?" She snorted in amusement at that, "It would feel good I'm sure, but it wouldn't help you."

That worried her greatly. She had promised her uncle that they wouldn't have contact with Bill. Harry, she believed, certainly wouldn't go off half-cocked and seek out her soon to be ex-husband.

But what would Ginny do?

"He's not my worry." Fleur said, more to herself than her cousin, "It's his ex-girlfriend. Ginevra is not an especially calm-tempered woman. Hopefully, Hermione has gotten Ron's key from Ginny. Otherwise, I worry that the moment she finds out that he is back she will break into his home." She chewed her lip in thought, "Perhaps I should stay in France and let him go back alone. If she sees me there, she will go straight to Bill."

After lunch, the two women apparated from an alley beside the bistro and arrived in a small copse of trees. Stepping out into a clearing Evangeline led Fleur along a small worn path towards a comfortable looking farmhouse. "Mother would have cursed at least one of us if you had gone back without stopping in to say hello. She'll probably still be annoyed that Harry is back in Paris, but at least she can curse you instead of me."

Genevieve Lalaurie was the reason Molly Weasley hadn't been a bigger stress to Fleur during the lead up to her wedding. Her mother's eldest cousin, Aunt Genevieve was a formidable woman who resembled the old queen Boudicca as Peter had said it. She had long curling dark red hair, not flaming red like the Weasleys, with sharp grey eyes that peered out from a strong-jawed face. Currently, those sharp grey eyes were watching them come up the path. A little boy with his mother's hair peered out from behind her at Fleur. Robert Lalaurie was Fleurs next to youngest cousin, a bright boy of eight years old he was already studying his sister's old first-year textbooks from Beauxbatons. "Hello, Fleur." She greeted her, the sharpness leaving those grey eyes and warming slightly, "It's been far too long." She stepped forward to embrace her niece before pulling back and looking at Evangeline, "Alain is laying down in the nursery. Please be quiet when you go into your room."

"Yes Mother," Evangeline said hiding a roll of her eyes as she strode past her and ruffled Roberts hair fondly. "And how are you doing Squirt?" She asked as she knelt to be level with her middle brother. "Has the even smaller squirt been a pest?"

Robert giggled and shook his head. He knew his cousin Fleur, but he was still a shy boy and was unwilling to speak too much. "Alain is an angel and you know that." Geneviève said to her daughter before looking back at Fleur, "How are your mother and father? We haven't seen them since we picked up Alain from the manor. Well, we received the message about you and your man wanting to speak with Peter, but that's not really a conversation." Grey eyes flicked towards Robert and Evangeline as they walked inside the house before turning back to Fleur, "Robert had an absolute fit when we wanted to drop them both off." She smiled and continued, "Had a rather amazing bout of accidental magic and set Peters luggage on fire."

"They are well." Fleur said, "Did they tell you anything about Harry and I?"

Geneviève smiled and shook her head, "Only that you and Harry Potter would be coming to Strasbourg to see my husband and that you had finally seen the light regarding the family that cast Peter out." Anger flashed in her eyes for a moment before she drew in a calming breath, "I rather doubt I would have kept my cool when we arrived. I couldn't believe it when Apolline told me you had begun a relationship with that family."

"They aren't all bad. Harry's best friend is Bills youngest brother Ronald. Even Bill helped fight against the Dark Lord in his second rise." Fleur said, feeling the urge to defend Harry's choice in friends. "No matter how much I may dislike some of them, they were his first real family."

Of course, there was the suspicion that Molly had 'guided' her youngest son and only daughter towards Harry. Whether or not the friendship developed naturally or was sparked by a woman Fleur knew disliked her, she could not say. The fact that Ron had gone against his mother and sister and stood with Harry meant enough that Fleur wouldn't immediately think the worst of him.

"I know my dear Peter gave you advice along the lines of staying away from the Weasleys. He's a lawyer and he will care more about what is legal over what is moral." Geneviève said quietly, drawing Fleur from her thoughts. "However, you listen to me and listen to me well; keep a very close eye on your man. Once they know you are seeking a divorce from Bill, odds are good they will put the fact that you and Harry both came to France together and come up with enough of the story. Ask yourself this: how will they react to you leaving Bill and going to Harry? More to the point, how will Harry react? Will he be ready to defend himself if an attack came from a formerly friendly face?"

Hours later, back in Paris, and with a belly full of a rather superb chicken and pasta dish, Fleur continued to dwell on those words. Harry was a wonderful, noble, and unfortunately idiotically trusting man. He would need protecting. _I am sorry Uncle Peter…_ Fleur thought as she looked over at Harry's sleeping form, _I will not be able to keep my promise to you. If they come after Harry because of me, I will defend him._

Back at the Lalaurie home, Peter and Geneviève lay in their bed. Peter was reading a novel while his wife was looking over a tome on medieval poisons. "You told her to go after him and make sure he stayed safe, didn't you?" Peter said conversationally to his wife.

"Of course, I did." She replied without looking up from her book.

"Of course, you did." Peter chuckled and continued to read. "Of course, you did." He shrugged and turned a page, "I hoped you would. I had to say the right things."

"And I had to say what you meant."

"I love you Madame Lalaurie." Peter kissed his wife's cheek.

"And I, you." There was a pause and then, "If Molly attacks Fleur, may I kill her?"

Peter chuckled, "If you beat Apolline to it."


	14. Chapter 14

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

Harry and Fleur were surprised the next morning when Elon from Beauxbatons arrived shortly after they had finished breakfast. "Master Flamel needs you!" He said before grabbing Harry's hand and then the pair vanished. Fleur stood up and followed behind them, reappearing in the village and making her way directly to the school.

Harry found himself tugged along by the frantic little being and led towards the lab of Nicholas Flamel. He found the old man peering into the stone cauldron with a strange expression on his face. "Did something go wrong?" Harry asked, a strange dread settling in his stomach. If the potion failed then they would have to start over, perhaps the stone hadn't nullified the poison or the curse in the ingredients.

"I have worked on this potion," Nicholas said softly, still looking at the light golden liquid, "for longer than you've been alive. Just the basic formula took sixteen years to figure out. Here it is, ready." He straightened up, and for the first time Harry could see exactly how old Nicholas Flamel was, every crease on his face seemed doubly deep as he reached with slightly trembling hands and began to ladle the liquid into a crystal bottle. "It's done." He reached out with the bottle, offering it to Harry who took it, turning the bottle in his hands.

It didn't look like much exactly. Harry knew that the most powerful magical objects weren't often elaborate looking. "So, this will cure the Longbottom's?" He asked the ancient alchemist as he looked away from the bottle. The idea of helping to give Neville his parents back appealed greatly to Harry. _One final good thing done in England and then Fleur and I can start our lives in France._ That made him smile as he pocketed the potion.

"It should, according to my research." Nicholas said nodding, "This is the most powerful restorative potion I've ever made. It will be enough for two adults. Just place a spoonful into their mouths. They should begin to respond within an hour." He settled wearily into his chair and reached into a small red bag beside it. Harry watched him pick up a flask and downed its contents wincing. "Elixir," Nicholas said when he notices Harry's eye. "I had been cheating in order to finish the potion, tired myself out and now I'm paying for it."

Harry watched as color seemed to return to his cheeks. Slowly Nicholas straightened in his seat and reached into the bag for a handkerchief which he dabbed at his cheeks. "Perenelle has been very cross with me because of it." He admitted in an annoyed sort of tone, sounding like a scolded child rather than a functionally immortal alchemist.

"I was annoyed with you because you were using that damned turner." Perenelle's cross voice came from the doorway drawing their attention. Perenelle was a tiny woman, barely coming to Fleur's shoulder who stood beside her, "Jumping back to redo an hour of stirring each time!" She stormed into the room and stood in front of her husband's chair. "You are damned near older than the trees on the grounds and you still found it necessary to push yourself too hard!" She breathed heavily through her nose and Harry had yet another image of facing down a dragon. _I hope it isn't just a French thing…_ he thought with some amusement as he flicked his eyes at Fleur. Fleur looked concerned and Harry knew this wasn't a moment to share his thoughts with her.

"I've used that same turner for nearly three hundred years. I know what I'm doing." Nicholas said trying to sound calm and soothing. It didn't work and he lost of some the color the potion he'd taken had given him again in the face of her glare, "It's finished now. I can take a break again."

Harry felt Fleur step beside him. He took her hand in his own as she leaned against his arm. The fact that she had come straight after him made him smile slightly. It was nice, he mused, having someone that would be at your side.

It seemed that the argument had ended for now anyway. Perenelle huffed as she began to straighten the lab in a rather aggressive way. Nicholas turned back to Harry and Fleur, "You take that potion and this note," he handed Harry a note in a purple envelope, "It will explain to the Longbottom boy what this potion is and what it is meant to do."

Harry thanked him and the two left quickly for the ward boundary of Beauxbatons.

Nicholas laughed as he watched them depart, "She came in wand drawn, didn't she?" He asked his wife who gave him a sour look.

"She did. She was convinced that something had gone wrong and we were going to be cleaning you two up with mops." Perenelle said as she wrung out a stained rag and continued to scrub the table. "I am still annoyed with you. How many days did that time-turner age you?"

"A week, maybe eight days." Nicholas said shrugging unconcernedly, "I made sure to take an extra dose of elixir to be safe.'

"I'm scheduling you an appointment with Dr. Gerard." She told him and her voice implied that any discussion was over. "I will tell him that you were gardening and strained yourself. He doesn't need to know that you were rabbiting back and forth in time."

 _Not that he would understand it anyway._ Nicholas thought as he sank back into his chair and rummaged in his bag for his copy of the paper.

Scene Break

With the potion, there was no reason to stay in Paris. Their vacation was basically over and they were expected back in London in two days. To celebrate their final night in Paris, they planned to return to London so Harry could meet with Neville, Harry and Fleur decided to go out to eat that night.

Fleur let the hot water of her shower fall onto her body as her mind wandered. By this time tomorrow, they would be back in London. She had little doubt that Bill would be receiving the message very soon that she would no longer be Fleur Weasley. Once he knew, the other Weasleys would know. That was what she worried about. She already knew she couldn't keep her promise to her uncle to not get involved with the Weasleys if something happened. She wasn't going to hide at Gringotts as she worked out her notice during the proceedings for her divorce. Nor would she let Ginny harass Harry again. No, for better or for worse, she would be at his side no matter what.

When she got out of the shower and changed into her underclothes, she found Harry perusing the phone directory. "Have you found anything?" She asked as she sat down and began to put on her nylons. She enjoyed both the silky feel of the material on her skin and the way they seemed to always draw Harry's gaze. Since this had begun she had felt the desire to dress up again, to let the world know how happy she was at his side.

"A few things, but the translation charm is going out again. I've only been able to read half of them and that was just from remembering words you've told me." Harry said frowning at the directory and then handing it to her.

Fleur accepted it and then thought for a moment, "I haven't reapplied the charm since we left my parents home. You've been reading this on your own." She smiled and pressed it back into his hands before kissing him. "I am very proud of you Harry Potter. Now read it carefully and if you need me to help you with a word, I am here."

While Fleur put on the dress she'd chosen, royal blue with silver trim around the neckline, Harry continued to read the listings in the phonebook. Eventually, with Fleur's help, he chose a small seafood restaurant that Fleur remembered being known for its bouillabaisse. Memories of how they had first seen one another flooded into her as they left on the motorcycle after calling and making a reservation for two.

The streets of Paris were always crowded. It was a huge, bustling city and the streets thrummed with life twenty-four hours a day. However, Harry and Mr. Weasley had put enchantments on the bike that, like the Ministry cars in his third year, allowed them to get into places that other vehicles couldn't. Fleur took in the lights around them as she held onto Harry, resting her chin on his shoulder. She imagined bringing their children into the city and smiled against him. Harry felt her press closer against him and wondered how things had gone so well since they left England. _How have I gotten so lucky?_ Harry wondered as they went through an intersection and turned onto the side street that would lead them to their destination.

Scene Break

The next morning came far too early for the couple. Their dinner the night before had been wonderful, as had the bottle of wine they had shared, and the lovemaking when they'd arrived back at the apartment. Now however they were faced with a five-a.m. alarm and heads that felt as if they were full of particularly annoyed wasps. They showered and dressed in silence, not truly feeling human until each had taken a dose of hangover potion and a large cup of very hot coffee.

"I think we may have celebrated a bit too hard last night," Harry admitted as they packed their luggage. Fleur gave a slight grunt of agreement; her potion hadn't quite kicked in yet it seemed. Suitably packed Harry shrunk both of their suitcases and then pocketed them. "I suppose we could have left some things here since we are coming back in a few weeks." He said as they walked out of the apartment and into the lobby.

"It's just clothes," Fleur said as she pressed the button for the lobby, "We probably could have gotten away with leaving all of it since we are just going to Grimmauld Place when we arrive in London." She leaned against the wall of the elevator and looked at him, "Do you want to go back upstairs and put the suitcases back?"

"We are already halfway to the lobby. We can just take them with us." Harry said as the elevator chimed that it had arrived on the third floor, then the second, and then they were at the lobby. As they stepped out into the bright sunlight, Harry suddenly realized that he hated sunshine more than anything else in the world. The potion they'd used made their nausea go away but did very little for the headache or sensitivity to light and sound he would have for the next few hours. As they walked into the parking deck where the motorcycle was parked, he made sure there was no one around them. The moment he saw they were alone he took off his glasses and tapped them with his wand. As the tip of his wand made contact with his glasses, they immediately began to darken. He placed his glasses back on and smiled slightly, the now much dimmer light was much less painful.

They drove out of Paris in silence. Each of them was trapped in their own thoughts as the city gradually fell away. It took Harry nearly an hour before he remembered the motorcycle could fly and, once the coast was clear, hit the booster and took the bike up. In the sky, with France hundreds of feet under them it was easier for him to let his mind relax. "Fleur?" He said through their helmets, "Don't go to Shell Cottage tonight. Stay with me at Grimmauld Place. We can ask Kreacher go over and get your things."

"That might be for the best," Fleur admitted as she looked down, they were flying over a stretch of grassy fields. Seeing them made her think of the small ruined farmhouse where they'd waited the summer thunderstorm out. "We can stay in the apartment until we make a final decision, but when we return, I would like to find a place in one of the communes if we could."

"You really liked the countryside, didn't you?" Harry said smiling slightly, "If that is where you want to be, then that is where we will be. Where I want to be is with you, so anywhere I can do that will be fine." His response earned him a kiss on the cheek as Fleur carefully situated herself closer to him and then back again.

The flight across the Channel and into England was quiet. Soon enough they were on the A20 in Maidstone and making good progress towards London. "We should probably stop for some lunch." Harry said as they pulled off of the A20 and made their way into the city. The fact that they were trying to avoid coming into London, and the onrushing drama of the Weasleys discovering they were back, by taking their time with the trip back was unsaid by the couple.

They pulled into the parking lot of a small roadside pub. Fleur hopped off the motorcycle and stretched her legs while Harry ducked into an alleyway. A moment later she saw a silvery stag racing northward before fading from view. As Harry returned from the alley Fleur walked to his side, "Why did you cast the patronus charm?" She asked him as they stepped into the pub.

"I sent Neville a message, I told him where we were and that I needed to talk to him," Harry said as they took a seat in a booth near the door. A waitress walked over and took their orders before walking back and giving them some privacy. They had just gotten their meals, a shepherds pie, and roast chicken, when Neville Longbottom, dressed in a muggle shirt and jeans entered the pub.

Neville spotted them and walked over, "Well, Harry and Fleur sitting together, I guess I'll have to pay Hannah a galleon after all." He said laughing as he shook Harry's hand and then Fleur's. "So, what is the important thing you needed to tell me?"

"Sit down and we'll tell you. First though," Harry said, moving over so Neville could sit beside him, "You and Hannah had a bet that we were together in France?"

Neville's grin broadened, "Harry, Ron can't keep a secret and you know that. We saw each other in Hogsmeade, and he told me that you were both gone." He laughed and continued, "Hannah said that you two ran off together, I said that you were probably just taking separate vacations. Turns out I was wrong." He finished shrugging, "So, how did this- "He indicated the two of them with a gesture, "happen?"

Harry gave him the short version as the waitress returned to ask Neville what he wanted. Ordering some roast chicken and a stout he continued to listen raptly. Harry had been one of the very few people that Neville could say never treated him as less capable, while he hadn't spent much time around Fleur, he trusted Harry and if Harry loved her, then he trusted her. "-that brings us back to what led me to call you," Harry's voice drew him from his thoughts, "Long story short, I think we can help your parents."

"Wait- what?" Neville was stunned, "What do you mean?" He felt a rush of emotions and struggled to keep them in check. Again he reminded himself that he trusted Harry, "How can you help my parents?"

"Remember when I said we went to Beauxbatons?" Harry said when Neville nodded, he continued, "We met Nicholas Flamel. He wanted to meet Fleur and I and when he found out about- about the Hallows, he wanted to use them to create a powerful restorative potion. I asked if that potion would help your parents and he wanted us to give you this," He reached into his shirt and opened his mokeskin pouch. He drew out the letter and gave it to Neville. Neville opened the letter and read through the contents.

 _Mr. Longbottom,_

 _My name is Nicholas Flamel, while I am sure that you were told in your youth that I was dead the rumors of that death are greatly exaggerated. With that out of the way, let me explain why I have written this note: I believe I have brewed a potion that would help cure your parents. The bearer of this note, Harry Potter, has the potion and with your consent will give each of your parents a dose of the potion._

 _I have spent longer than the combined years of your and Mr. Potters lives working on this recipe, I truly believe it will work. However, the decision is yours. It may be that the restorative potion will only heal their physical ailments and not their mind, but there is a chance that it will help them. If it does, all that I ask is that you kept the fact that you got the potion from me a secret. Let the world believe that a miracle happened, that will be payment enough._

 _This is my blood and my signature,_

 _Nicholas Flamel_

Neville looked down and sure enough, there was a small drop of blood on the paper. He nodded and looked back up to Harry, "I'm in. Let me talk to Hannah and we'll set up a time, if this works then I want Mum and Dad to meet her." He looked back at the paper, "If it doesn't, then I'll want her there for me."

They ate their meal in relative silence before paying the check and leaving. They walked with Neville into the alley and said their goodbyes before he apparated away. With him gone, Harry and Fleur went back to the motorcycle and continued on their journey.

A few hours of traffic later and they arrived at Grimmauld Place. Harry and Fleur made their way to his bedroom and flopped onto the bed without any talking. Sleep claimed them quickly as the exhaustion from the day caught up with them. Everything would be dealt with soon enough and the last thought in Harry's mind before oblivion claimed him was that as long as he had Fleur in his arms he didn't much care for just how loud tomorrow would be.


	15. Chapter 15

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

Grimmauld Place had never so wonderful to Harry as it did when he woke up beside Fleur. It felt more like home than it had before. In a way, he thought as he rose to start the day, he was almost sorry to leave it. _Perhaps we could keep the place up for when we want to visit Hermione and Ron?_ He thought as the hot water of the shower left its pleasant sting on his shoulders. There were still too many bad memories for it to be a proper home, especially once tiny Potters arrived _or Peverells, or even Blacks_ he thought with a grin. The question of what name to use was an important one; he'd been Harry Potter for his entire life and the Potter name had its own baggage both good and bad, the Black family had a bad reputation and Harry was glad he'd managed to get the truth about Sirius out to the world through Luna and _The Quibbler._

But what about Peverell? The name he and Fleur had used, more on a whim than anything else at the hotel in France, _Harry, and Fleur Peverell? It sounds alright…_

Harry was taken from his musing by the feel of slim arms going around him and a now wonderfully familiar scent filling his nostrils. Fleur kissed his cheek softly, "You were gone when I woke up. You should've told me you were going to take a shower, I've gotten rather used to sharing with you." She told him, her voice husky from sleep in a way that put a pleasurable chill down his spine.

"Just clearing my brain for this morning. Proudfoot is going to have kneazles when he finds out I'm resigning." Harry admitted, "He considered me his bargaining chip whenever he had to talk to other department heads." It had been one of the myriad little things that had annoyed him about his job. "I fully expect him to move between begging, attempted bribery, and mentioning my family honor as an attempt to get me to stay as an Auror."

Fleur sighed and her grip around his waist tightened, "Do you wish to stay?" She would stay in England if that was what he wanted, Harry knew that. He also knew that here in England she would be known as the woman who left her husband for Harry Potter. They would never be able to get away from his name in this country.

"No." He said, turning so he was holding her as well. "We are doing this and then we are going to buy that little farm we stopped at." He hugged her tight as the water ran over them both, "We will turn that dilapidated farmhouse into a home for us and our children."

She pressed a kiss to his lips, "Then go to the Ministry. I will go to Gringotts and we will meet each other for lunch here." Harry kissed her again and this time Fleur allowed herself to be pressed against the shower wall.

It was several hours later when Harry had been in the Aurors department waiting for Proudfoot to come down from a meeting when he realized that he hadn't seen Ron all morning. _That's not like him…_ Harry thought frowning. He was rather concerned by the fact that he hadn't noticed. Ron was his oldest friend, was he so distracted by what he had to do that he didn't pay attention to his not showing up? "Hey, Megan?" Harry called to a slender brunette witch with a pale round face he saw going past his desk, "Have you seen Ron this morning?"

"Hey Harry, welcome back from your trip. No, I haven't seen him this morning." Megan Jones said, "Bit weird, he was supposed to go over a case with me." She checked her watch, "We are supposed to meet in an hour. If I don't see him by then I'll let you know."

"Thanks. What case is it?" Harry asked a feeling of foreboding creeping into his system. Ron had never been the most careful person but surely, he wouldn't have gotten caught by a dark wizard. Would he?

"Oh, nothing too important. Nott got caught smuggling harpy talons and Ron said he was in lockup for drunk and disorderly. So, if the timeline overlaps, we've also got him on illegal use of Polyjuice." Megan said looking down at her notes. That got Harry's attention, Theodore Nott had been a Slytherin who had never been quite the caliber of bastard as Draco Malfoy but had been nasty enough in his way. Megan noted something in his eye then as she looked up from her papers, "I'm sure he's just late with his third breakfast." She said trying to inject some humor into the subject. "If you're that worried just use the floo or apparate over to his flat."

He nodded, "I'll do that. When Proudfoot gets out of his meeting, will you tell him I need to speak to him?" Megan agreed and Harry rushed to the door and out into the foyer leading to the lift. As he waited at the lift gate he cursed silently. _I should have gone to see Ron and Hermione before coming in today. I know Hermione is up early, she would have been right there!_

As the door opened, he found Arthur Weasley standing in the lift beside a heavyset bearded wizard who carried a small box that was smoking. "Harry, I see you are back, how was your trip?" Mr. Weasley was smiling so Harry didn't think that Bill's divorce letter had reached the Weasley's family yet. The larger man got out and walked past the DMLE's doors to an office farther down the hallway. "Burton found a crate of ashwinder eggs on the black market." He explained as Harry stepped inside the lift. "So, where are you headed?"

"The lobby." Harry said, "Have you spoke to Ron today?" He asked Mr. Weasley as they made their way down in the lift. This was the first time he'd been around any of the family that, had everything went according to plan would have been his in-laws. It surprised him how normal he felt. He'd worried about feeling a sense of deep loss, but thus far it was almost surreally normal.

"Ron and Hermione were by for breakfast this morning. They wanted to let us know about your letter." Mr. Weasley replied easily, "It was nice of you to take care of Fleur as you did."

"Wh-what do you mean sir?" _There's that awkwardness and dread…_ Harry thought as he tried to remember exactly what had been in the letter he'd sent to Hermione.

"She needed some time back with her family. She and Bill had been arguing more and more." The older man frowned slightly, "I worry about them. They got married, for the most part, because- and if you tell her I would deny it of course- Molly disapproved. If you tell young people not to be together then they will run off, you see." Arthur smiled then as the door of the lift opened and he stepped out, "A little distance will probably have done them some good." The doors closed leaving Harry to his thoughts.

It felt like the lift was moving slower than normal, though Harry admitted to himself that it was his nerves. Eventually, though he reached the lobby and the area that marked where it was safe to apparate or disapparate. With a pop, he vanished and appeared in the alleyway beside the flat Hermione and Ron lived in. He hurried into the building and bypassed the lift that Hermione had warned him was more often broken than not. Instead, he chose to race up the stairs to the third floor.

His lungs were burning as he leaned against the frame of their door and knocked. After a moment Hermione opened the door, "Harry, it's so good to see you! Neville said you were back in England." She hugged him and then backed up, "Why are you so sweaty?" She asked, her nose crinkling in distaste.

"I just ran three flights of stairs." He said rubbing a dull ache in his side, "Where's Ron? He wasn't at the office." Of all the things he had expected, her smirking wasn't on the list.

"Ron is watching Grimmauld Place under the Orders old invisibility cloak." She said, a smug note in her voice, "It seems that his ward stone went 'missing' again." She pulled out her copy, "When we found it at the Burrow, I cast a diagnostic charm. Sure enough, the last person to hold it was Ginny. Now Ron is going to tell me when she goes into the house and then we will confront her."

"I know what she's doing. She tried to sneak a love potion into my house." Harry told her, "Tonks saw her the last time."

"Why wasn't that in the letter?" Hermione asked, "I thought she was just going to trash the place or something." Hermione sighed, "A love potion, a Merlin-damned love potion. Really?"

Harry rubbed his temples, "She wasn't happy that I stood up for myself. She'll be even less happy when the news reaches the Weasley family. Fleur is divorcing Bill and we're moving to Paris."

"So, Neville was telling the truth. I didn't think he'd lied exactly, but I thought he was inferring things." Hermione looked surprised, but not, Harry felt, as surprised as he had expected. He should have known that Neville would have mentioned their meeting to, at least, Ron and Hermione. He was waiting for a message telling him when he was ready to visit his parents and attempt the cure.

"There's a lot I didn't mention in case the letter arrived at the Burrow." Harry explained, "I'll tell you and Ron everything once we-" but he was interrupted by his friend.

Hermione started, her wand was buzzing in its holster. "That's the signal. She's at your house." Hermione looked at him, "Do you want to come with me to confront her?"

"Of course, I do." Harry said, "She's already tried to use a love potion on me once." The two apparated out of the apartment and to the alley nearest to Grimmauld Place. Once there, they walked out of the alleyway. Hermione waved, seemingly at no one and with a shimmer, a ginger-haired head followed by the rest of Ron Weasley appeared.

"Hey Harry," Ron said in greeting as he kissed Hermione's cheek. "Ginny just went inside. So, what do reckon she's up to?"

"Trying to hide a love potion again," Harry said quietly. While he didn't see anyone around, he really didn't want to have to obliviate any muggles who might be around and overheard them.

"A love potion!" Ron practically squawked as his ears went as red as his hair. "What do you-"

His words were thankfully muffled as Hermione put a hand over his mouth. "Be quiet Ron!" She hissed and then lowered her hand. "Yes, she may have a love potion. No, she's not going to get a chance to use it."

"If Fleur is in the house, I doubt she's had a chance to do anything." Harry said before wincing as Hermione clamped a hand on his mouth again.

"Yes, Neville wasn't exaggerating." Hermione said in the same rapid whisper.

"Are you sure you're not doing that because you think it's funny at this point?" Harry asked. Hermione sheepishly put down her hand, "Alright, I'm going inside. Ron, I want you under that cloak and behind me. Hermione, I want you to watch the door. If she comes out, then stun her."

"What if she's not trying to put a love potion in your house?" Ron asked, even as he began to wrap the cloak back around himself.

"Look, if she's not then, we'll find out what she's doing with your key to my house. I'll have Kreacher check every room to be safe." Harry said to the space he knew Ron occupied. "At the very least we're getting your key back." Harry wanted to live a life where he didn't have to fear someone breaking in, so he was reluctant to start warding the property to only admit certain people. _But if I have to, it's not like it'll be forever. It'll just be until Fleur and I move._

"Harry's right Ron." Hermione said quietly, "We won't hurt her, even if she tries to hurt Harry you'll stun her, or if she gets out here I will."

"Alright." Ron's disembodied voice said, "Let's just do this."

Hermione stood on the opposite side of the road as Harry and Ron made their way to the door. Even from outside they could hear heated shouting. _Fleur! She's still here! I thought she was going to Gringotts!_ He raced up the steps and pulled the door open.

Harry saw Ginny and Fleur standing face to face, wands drawn on each other. Fleur stood by the staircase, he saw her eyes flick to his. "You are outnumbered Ginevra, I think it's time you left." She said in a slow, even voice.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked Fleur, his voice startled Ginny who jumped slightly and spun around. "Why are you here Ginny?"

Ginny was breathing heavily, her nostrils flared as she drew in deep breaths trying to force herself into a calm that Harry could easily tell, she didn't feel. "I heard you were back." She tried to smile but it looked more like a grimace, as if she had an upset stomach, "I wanted to talk to you. But I found her here." She jerked her head back towards Fleur, "You can't trust her Harry. She'll just use you like she's used Bill!" She turned back and glared at Fleur, "You're trying to get him fired, you stupid bitch!"

"I did nothing!" Fleur said hotly, "Your brother cheated on me throughout our marriage!"

"You deserved it. Nothing we ever did was good enough for you!" Ginny spat at her, her wand raised again. Harry tried to restrain Ginny, but she slipped out of his grasp. A jet of red light shot over Fleur's head. Ginny pushed Harry as he tried to catch her again. Ron moved from under the cloak and tackled his sister. Ginny's wand went up as they fell, and a yellow beam struck Harry in the back.

"Harry!" Fleur cried and rushed to him.

Harry looked dazed, he smiled weakly at her, "Y-you're pretty when you're terrified…did you know tha- ", but whether she did or didn't, he wouldn't know. Harry passed out just as he saw Fleur's lips moving as she said something to Ron.

Waking up at St. Mungo's was much more comfortable than waking up on the ground in the Forbidden Forest, Harry mused a few hours later. He'd been placed in a bed and left to wake up on his own. Blinking he saw a whitish blur beside him and reached for his glasses on the table to his left. With those on, he saw it was Fleur who had fallen asleep holding his hand.

As he stirred, she jumped, startled awake. "' Arry!" She said, her accent coming out thickly in relief. She hugged him tightly before moving back, "Are you alright? I was so worried!" She began to sob into his neck.

"I'm fine Fleur, what happened after I went down?" Harry said once Fleur settled back. She didn't let go completely through, content to hold his hand.

"Well, when you were attacked, Ron stunned Ginevra. He gave me his Aurors emergency portkey and told me to say 'Chudley'." Harry laughed at that then winced. Fleur squeezed his hand and continued, "Mrs. Tonks was on duty and took you into this room."

"I see you are awake," Andromeda said from the door getting their attention, "You will be fine with some rest. Ginny hit you with a bone withering curse, which according to Ron was supposed to hit Fleur."

"Where is Gi- "

"A holding cell awaiting sentencing." Andromeda told him, "You will be here for the next two days at least." She stepped further into the room and placed a bottle on his table, "Drink this, it's for the pain." Harry took the potion and downed it, wincing at the foul taste.

"Arthur and Molly Weasley have been by," Fleur said softly to him as Andromeda began a series of scans. "Bill sent a message the Burrow about the divorce this morning after Arthur left for work. Molly blames herself for what Ginny did." Fleur looked down at their hands, "They want to see both of us once you are well."

"What about?"

"Molly wishes to apologize for what happened. She blames herself because Ginny overheard her reading the message." Fleur told him, "Arthur apologized to me for Bill's actions. Molly is still in shock I think about her eldest son being an unfaithful husband."

"Do they know about us?" Harry asked this was the question that gnawed at him. It had settled like an angry weight ever since the ride with Arthur on the lift.

Fleur shook her head, "No, not yet. I'm sure they suspect something but so far, they haven't said anything. During our conversation, the question never came up."

Andromeda seemed satisfied as she left the room without another word. Harry and Fleur continued to talk quietly until he felt the potion, he'd taken making his eyelids heavy. Fleur watched as he fell asleep. She hadn't been completely honest about the conversation with the Weasleys. They did know about their relationship.

 _I am sorry I have brought you so much pain, my love…_ She thought as she placed her hand on his once more. Eventually, his slow breathing lulled her to sleep in spite of the uncomfortable chair.


	16. Chapter 16

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells.

The curse inflicted on Harry by Ginny required rest to cure. His bones were fragile which meant while Andromeda worked on his injuries, he couldn't take deep breaths for fear of cracking his ribs. He couldn't get out of bed without risking a broken leg, so he had to lay still, propped up on pillows kept fluffed by a distraught Fleur.

He had a steady stream of visitors. Ron and Hermione were with him as Ron wanted to keep him abreast of the situation. Ginny had tried to accuse Fleur of casting the spell and using a spell to confound Harry into blaming her.

"That's ridiculous!" Harry said, moving up in the bed before being gently pressed back down by Fleur, "We were all there!" His outburst was muffled somewhat by the action.

"I know that mate," Ron told him, "I already offered to take truth potion. Luckily no one buys her story." At that, Harry seemed to calm back down. "Right now, she's in a holding cell until her trial. Kingsley wants to wait until you're healed and can attend."

"Naturally. How else can he blame her for why we want to leave?" Fleur said scoffing lightly. During Harry's recovery she had taken it upon herself to act as his go-between, keeping away the people who wanted to gawk at him.

The door opened and Andromeda stepped inside, "Harry, Mr. and Mrs. Delacour have arrived." Behind her walked Fleur's parents and Gabrielle. Andromeda moved to the bed and began to cast diagnostic charms on him.

"How are you feeling?" Jean-Luc asked Harry, for once his ready smile seemed strained. _Of course,_ Harry thought, _I feel the same way right now. Ginny could have killed someone._ Fleur noticed the change in Harry's eyes and took his hand.

"I'm getting better." He said and physically speaking, he was. It was his emotions that was the problem. Fleur squeezed his hand and he got the impression that she could tell he was lying through his teeth. "My body is healing; my brain is still trying with the fact that someone I was prepared to marry tried to murder the woman I love."

Jean-Luc nodded sadly, "I will not lie to you. I wish you and Fleur had stayed in France. I understood why you had to go, but-"He let his thought stop there. Apolline hadn't spoken yet. Her sharp eyes moved from Harry to Fleur. He could tell his future mother-in-law was making a decision, but he wasn't sure what about. Not until she spoke.

"You have chosen better this time, the both of you." She looked at Ron and her sharp eyes softened slightly, "No offense to you. You have been Harry's friend during this and for that I thank you."

Ron went slightly pink, "Well, I mean- He's my best mate, of course I'm with him. He's told us about Bill. I couldn't- "His words died as another healer opened the door and allowed two more people into the room.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

For a moment, no one said anything. Apolline stared coldly at the other couple. Mr. Weasley cleared his throat, "We um, just wanted to see how you are doing Harry." His voice was strained in a way he'd never heard before. Mr. Weasley sounded old and worn down. Harry knew that a lot had happened lately.

"There is no lasting damage from Ginevra's attempt on his life." Andromeda said coldly. Molly glared at her for a moment before looking down at the floor.

"I know that Ginny did wrong-" Molly began but was cut off by a scoff from Apolline.

"'Wrong' does not cover what your daughter did." The tall blonde said heatedly. "She very nearly killed Harry for no better reason that loving my daughter when your son wouldn't." Jean-Luc placed a hand on his wife's arm. It was meant to be a calming gesture.

It failed.

Apolline jerked her arm away from Jean-Luc. "I am not going to listen to her try to explain away what her daughter did!" She turned back to Molly her eyes flashing, "You are very lucky that Ginevra was captured so quickly. If I'd have found her, she would have came back to you in a matchbox!" With that she turned on her heel and walked back to the bed. "Harry, once you are cleared for travel you will be coming back to France, do we understand ourselves?"

Harry nodded. Apolline moved back against the wall beside Jean-Luc and continued to glare at the Weasleys but said nothing. Harry shifted in his bed and looked at the Weasleys. "I'm sorry that all this happened, well almost all of it. I don't regret falling in love with Fleur. Bill was using her, and he is very lucky that all she wants is a clean break from him." It hurt him to talk to the closest thing he'd had to real parents like this, but it had to be done. "Mrs. Delacour is right, I planned to resign before the attack and I still am."

There was a stiff silence in the room. Molly made a sort of squeaking sound into a handkerchief and Arthur, with some difficulty, managed to get her to walk with him out of the room to try and calm down. With the Weasleys out of the room it felt as if a coiled spring had lost its tension. Jean-Luc sighed and reached into the pocket of his robes, "We wanted to bring you something." He explained as he placed a small wrapped package on Harry's bedside table, "Again you have saved one of my daughters, Apolline and I will never be able to explain what that means to us, though one day I believe you will know what having a daughter does to you."

Harry looked at the package and then back to Jean-Luc, "Thank you, but I didn't do it for a reward. I did it because I love Fleur."

"We know that." Apolline said from beside her husband, "That being said you still deserve this."

Harry opened it and was surprised to see a small flat gray stone. Inscribed on its edge was a series of runes. "This is your copy of the wardstone for our home. We consider you a member of our family now and forever." Jean-Luc said to him, "We had planned on giving it to you after you and Fleur returned, but I couldn't think of a better time than now."

Fleur couldn't believe it. Her parents hadn't even given Bill a copy of the wardstone. Harry met her gaze and smiled at her. She bent down and kissed him softly. "I love you Harry Potter," She said quietly.

"I love you too." He said just as quietly. It was as if the others didn't exist and for Harry and Fleur it was true. That moment was theirs alone and they treasured it.

Scene Break

Harry was cleared to leave a few days later. Resigning from the Aurors was much less difficult than he'd expected. Proudfoot had made some token noises, but post-war magical Britain was a place that yearned for peace and quiet and Harry Potter being attacked by his former girlfriend made the sort of headlines he didn't want to deal with.

Once freed from his duties at the DMLE there was only one thing really holding Harry from leaving England; the Longbottoms. He arranged to meet Neville and Hannah on the first Saturday after he was released.

"This will go well; I am sure of it." Fleur said soothingly as she wrapped her arms around him from behind, "Nicholas Flamel is a genius, even if he is a cranky old man." She said trying to make him smile.

Harry looked at the bottle in his hand and then turned so he could face her. "I just feel like if this doesn't work then I will be hurting Neville worse than if I'd done nothing." He sighed softly, "Even though I'm sure it will be fine, I'm still worried. What if something goes wrong?"

"He would not blame you." Fleur told him gently, "He would still thank you for trying. As they are now, they are as good as dead. It's the worst thing I can imagine, being trapped in your mind like they are." She shivered and tightened her grip around him. "We have to leave if we are meeting him at three." She told him after a few more moments of holding the man she loved.

Neville looked strained when they arrived. Though he shook Harry's hand and accepted a hug from Fleur while Hannah did the same for Harry, there was a definite tension in his eyes. _I don't blame him_ Harry thought _If it were my parents I don't know if I'd be excited or terrified._

"I can't believe you actually met Nicholas Flamel!" Hannah said excitedly. She, like Fleur and Harry, had noticed how nervous her husband was. She had chosen to act as the cheerleader for the venture. "I thought he died years ago!"

"Well, he would have. He told Professor Dumbledore that they had enough elixir to 'sort their affairs'." Harry said as they entered the lift from the lobby of St Mungos that would lead them to the Janus Thickey Ward. "It turned out that their affairs involved the creation of another stone."

"And with everyone believing that they were dead," Fleur supplied, "They were free to live their lives under assumed identities. We met them, the first time, in a small café they were running."

"They noticed that we were together, but that only Fleur had a wedding ring. So, they decided to meddle." Harry said lightly, though if he were honest, he was still annoyed with how high-handed they had been. "When we found out, I told Nicholas that Fleur was the one he had to get the forgiveness of."

Hannah smiled and leaned against Neville, who put an arm around her waist, "Already being a good boyfriend." She teased lightly.

The lift chimed and the quartet exited the lift. They saw Augusta Longbottom standing by the door waiting for them. A tall, thin woman, she looked older than Harry could remember ever seeing her. _She'd fought with them at the Battle of Hogwarts and hadn't looked so worn_ Harry thought. Still, she stood against the wall as if on guard for some attack. "Hello Mrs. Longbottom," Harry said politely as the woman faced them.

"Hello Mr. Potter," She replied crisply, "Are you prepared?" She was very brusque, and someone could be forgiven for thinking she was being rude. But Harry knew that with the exception of Neville, there was no one more nervous about what they were planning.

"Yes ma'am. I have the potion and the directions for how to dose it out." He reached into his robes and drew out the bottle and the letter Nicholas had sent with them. "The directions said to pour half the bottle, slowly, into their mouths."

"They aren't so far gone that they are bed-ridden." Augusta said sharply, "They are sitting by the window right now."

"Will they drink the potion on their own? How do the healers give them medicine?" Harry asked her. He didn't want to stun them, but if they wouldn't drink on their own, he didn't know how to do it any other way.

"The healers give them their potions in small doses mixed with their drinking water." Hannah responded, "Those potions are meant to block them from experiencing bursts of accidental magic."

"I don't think this can be diluted." Harry said frowning, "Is there someone we can get to help us?"

"I don't think so. No one knows we're doing this." Neville said, "I don't want to stun them-"

"I don't either," Harry broke in quickly, seeing the pained look on the face of his friend.

"No one will be stunning anyone." Augusta said harshly, "You will find a way to make this work-"

"Gran, if there's no other way then we'll have to stun them. If it works then they'll understand, and if it doesn't…" Neville's voice trailed off, "If it doesn't work then they won't know we stunned them." Hannah pulled Neville into a hug. Harry and Fleur looked towards the door while Neville drew comfort from his wife.

"I swear," Harry said quietly to Augusta, "everything we are going to do is because I want to help. When Nicholas Flamel told me what he was working on this was the first thing that I thought of. Neville is one of my best friends and I want him to have his adulthood with his parents."

Augusta didn't say anything else, but after a swift, searching look at Harry she moved from the door. Harry nodded and walked into the room, shutting the door behind him. It felt like that Christmas in his fifth year, when they had been visiting Mr. Weasley after Nagini attacked him. Frank Longbottom was staring blankly at a patch of sunlight and Alice, whom Harry noticed had the same chin as Neville, was looking at him with a dull sense of curiosity in her eyes from her seat on the edge of her bed. It was as if she could tell, albeit dimly, that something was about to happen.

Harry drew his wand and silently stunned both Longbottoms. Deciding to start with Alice, he sat beside her and pulled her head into his lap. She looked frail as he held her mouth open and began to feed her small amounts of the potion. After each dose he helped her limp form swallow the potion. Eventually half the bottle had made it into her. Harry moved and let her rest on the bed before turning his attention to Frank.

As Frank was sitting up in his chair, or he had been before he was stunned, it was a quicker process. In minutes the bottle was empty, and Harry stood, preparing to reawaken them. He said a silent prayer to whatever was listening and lifted his wand, waking Alice first.

The first thing he noticed was that when she opened her eyes, they weren't blank. Instead they darted around wildly. She scooted back away from Harry patting her right leg as if looking for a wand, "S-stay back! We don't know anything! Please!" She cried, tears filling her eyes.

Harry held up his hands, "Mrs. Longbottom, please I'm not a Death Eater-"

He was interrupted as the door flew open and Neville raced inside followed by Augusta, Hannah, and Fleur. Neville looked at his mother in disbelief, "M-mum?" He said quietly, as if worried she'd vanish if he spoke too loudly.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Alice said her eyes going from Harry to Neville.

"I- It's me, It's Neville." He said, stepping between Harry and his mother. "You were attacked when I was a baby."

"He's telling the truth Alice." Augusta said quietly, "You and Frank have been in this ward for a very long time. We-" She cleared her throat, "The healers didn't hold any hope for you, it was Harry Potter who saved you."

Alice looked from Neville to Augusta and then to Harry. "H-Harry?" She said unsure. Harry stepped closer and allowed her to look at him better. "You look so much like James. But those are Lily's eyes…" She turned to look at Neville, "Is it really you Neville?"

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Carefully, Alice stood and took a few halting steps before standing in front of her son, a son that now stood nearly a foot taller than she did. "You look just like Frank." Saying her husbands name made her turn to Harry again, "Is Frank alright now too?"

Harry nodded, "I believe so. I gave him the same dose I gave you. I just woke you first." He turned and lifted the stunning spell from Frank Longbottom.

Frank groaned lowly and opened his eyes. Like Alice, Frank jumped backwards before taking in the people around him. "M-mum? James?" He said looking from Augusta to Harry.

"Half right Franklin." Augusta said quietly, tears starting to stream from her eyes. "James Potter died. This is his son Harry. We have- we have a lot of catching up to do."

Harry and Fleur left the ward, the Longbottom family, now whole for the first time in decades, deserved some privacy. They could catch up with Neville before they left for France. "You are amazing," Fleur said to him as they rode the lift down.

"I just get lucky." Harry said, "If the potion-"

"Non. None of that." Fleur said sternly, before pulling him into a kiss. "You were my hero when you saved Gabrielle. Then you saved me from Ginevra. Now you gave Neville his parents back. Stop being so damned humble and take the compliment or I will smack you."

Harry laughed and pulled her into another kiss. The kiss didn't break until the lift opened and they walked out. "Alright then, I'm amazing."

"Don't say it like that." She teased, "You will get a big head."

"Well which is it? Either I'm too humble or I'm going to get a big head."

Fleur rolled her eyes and tugged him out the door of the hospital. As they walked into the welcoming warmth of a beautiful summer day, she found herself thinking of how quickly life had changed. She smiled at the thought. Harry noticed her smile and squeezed her hand, "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing. Just enjoying being with you."


	17. Chapter 17

The Stag and the Flower

A/N: Don't own a thing, especially not HP. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Italics denote thoughts. Bold is for spells. This is it, folks, the next chapter is how it all ends. I'm glad you've enjoyed this story. I have to say this one is second only to Teddy's Excellent Adventure for me.

Kingsley sat in his office looking at the paper before him with a frown. The front page of the Daily Prophet had a full-page picture of Harry Potter and Fleur Weasley, soon to be Fleur Delacour again, with his arm around the woman looking haggard and worn. _THE-BOY-WHO-LIVED NOW THE-MAN-WHO-LOVED?_ Rita Skeeter had been very busy ever since they were spotted leaving St. Mungos together painting a picture of the two as long-time lovers who had been playing the Weasleys as fools.

Working with rumor and innuendo Skeeter had managed to stay just on the legal side of what could be considered libelous. It irked the Minister, but he couldn't do anything since she'd made very sure to avoid directly accusing them of anything. _I have half a mind to hire a muggle skywriter to put her address above Diagon Alley, but the pilot wouldn't know where to go and they wouldn't know to look up…hell, I think most of Wizarding Britain still thinks airplanes are just big wind-up toys._

He sighed and set the paper back down. The trial for Ginny Weasley was in a half-hour, he needed to finish what he was working on. There was a sharp knock on the door, "Enter." Kingsley called out as the door swung open and a slender brunette witch walked in with a thunderous look marring her round, pleasant face.

"It's awful King," Hestia Jones said as she flopped into the chair across from him. In her hand was a copy of the Prophet, "That Skeeter cow all but stated they had been together since he was fourteen!" Hestia glared at the picture of the two. "There has to be something you can do!"

"I wish there was," Kingsley said angrily. "But if I go after Skeeter as Minister then it'll be seen as suppressing the 'freedom of the press'."

"Then don't go after that cow as Minister." Hestia said darkly, "Use those skills that put half of Travers on the Hogwarts quidditch pitch and the other half of him in the lake." Kingsley chuckled and began to shuffle his papers. She looked at him, "Don't laugh at me Kingsley. I'm serious, Harry has earned some peace after all the shit that he's been through."

"I know that, I-" Kingsley felt his wand buzz. The timer he'd set to remind him to leave for the trial had gone off. "I have to go. The trial is in a few minutes."

Hestia rose with him, "I'm coming with you. Megan is giving testimony and Gwen and I wanted to be there for her." The two made their way out of his office.

Inside the Wizengamot chamber Kingsley and Hestia took their respective seats. Hestia beside her sister in the public gallery while Kingsley sat in the center of the raised seats overlooking the chair in the center of the chamber. He saw Harry and Fleur sitting next to Ron and Hermione well apart from Arthur and Molly Weasley. Molly, he noted, looked pale and red-eyed as if she had no more tears left. Kingsley, however, had little pity for the woman. _She all but promised her daughter she'd marry Harry Potter._ He thought, narrowing his eyes in distaste, _If Harry had died from the curse Ginny put on him I don't think the holding cell would have saved her daughter._

"The Wizengamot stands in judgment of Ginevra Molly Weasley." Kingsley said, "The Honorable Edgar Greengrass acts as Prosecutor." A tall thin wizard with slicked-back hair rose from one of the tables. "Acting as counsel for the accused is Percival Weasley." Percy rose from behind the opposite table.

"Bring in the accused," Kingsley said to the Aurors who exited out of the chamber, returning a few moments later with Ginny. Gone were the Dementors who had escorted prisoners in the old days. Instead, shackles with magic-suppressing runes etched onto them kept the prisoners at bay. "Ginevra Weasley, you stand accused of cursing Harry Potter with a bone-withering hex in his home on the sixteenth of August. How do you plead?"

"Guilty." Ginny's voice was hollow and flat. It was as if she had nothing left inside her. At her words, an angry buzzing filled the chamber. Kingsley saw Fleur put her hand on Harrys' and on the opposite side of the room saw Molly shrink against her husband. She looked back down at the floor and didn't lift her head as the two wizards spoke. Edgar Greengrass arguing that her actions at Grimmauld Place showed a criminal mind and that she deserved a prison sentence. Percy, however, pleaded with the court that Ginny's crimes showed a disturbed mind rather than a criminal one and asked that she be placed in St. Mungo's under the eye of trained mind-healers before placing her in a prison.

Witnesses were called. Ron stood, not looking at his sister and explained what had happened that day. "My fiancée, Hermione, was the one who made the plan. Ginny had my wardstone and we honestly thought she was just going over to wreck Harry's stuff." He grimaced, "When Harry explained what had happened, we changed the plan. I followed him inside under an invisibility cloak, Hermione stayed outside so that if things went badly, she could stun Ginny." Ron winced slightly hearing his mother give a dry sort of sob but continued, "Ginny was there, but she wasn't alone. Fleur had been there all day and the two were fighting. Harry tried to break it up, but Ginny attacked them. If he hadn't gotten between Ginny and Fleur…" Ron looked down, "She would have killed Fleur and she almost killed Harry."

"Members of the Wizengamot," Percy called to the members, "She was not in her right mind. In Ginny's mind, Harry was under Fleur's influence and she wanted to protect him."

Ron scoffed, "Perc, she tried to sneak a love potion into his house, and you know it."

The angry buzzing grew louder, forcing Kingsley to use his wand to make a loud noise in order to get their attention so the trial could continue, sending Ron back to his seat. Percy cleared his throat and began to speak again, "Ginny acted rashly and wrongly, no one is denying that. I am merely trying to show the court that she was not acting with a rational mind." On his opposite side, Edgar Greengrass was content to merely let Percy continue to make his case for him. "Upon hearing that Fleur was divorcing her husband, Ginny's oldest brother, to be with Harry Potter, Ginny snapped."

Kingsley bit into his cheek to avoid cursing. He knew Percy was trying to ensure that his sister didn't spend her entire life in a prison cell, but that didn't stop him from being irritated. "My pardon, Mr. Weasley," Edgar Greengrass said, "But your brother was spotted by an Auror, leaving the Zabini home a few weeks ago, well before the divorce papers were sent out. If your sister was not in her right state of mind, then the blame falls on her family and not on Harry Potter or Fleur Delacour."

 _Smart move using her maiden name…_ Kingsley thought _it reinforces the idea that Fleur isn't part of the Weasley family._

That was when Megan Jones was called forward. "On the morning of the third of August, I was completing my patrol when I saw Bill Weasley leaving the Zabini home."

"That could have been perfectly innocent." Percy said to Megan, "She might have asked him over to inspect a cursed item."

"She could have." Megan agreed, "But after Ginny was found at Harry's home with a bottle suspected to be a love potion I decided to check. Gringotts listed Bill Weasley as off duty."

"This has nothing to do with the case at hand," Edgar said to Kingsley.

Kingsley stood, "I agree. As the accused has pled guilty it is up to the members of the jury to determine her fate. Those in favor of sending Ginevra Weasley to Azkaban will please raise their hands."

The air was deathly still as hands began to raise.

"Wait! I would like to say something!" Harry said standing and moving towards the tables. "In her first year, Ginny was attacked by an agent of Voldemort." A shudder went through the crowd at the name, Harry paid it no mind and continued, "At that time her 'treatment' by Albus Dumbledore was just some hot cocoa. Sending her to prison won't change what she did. But having a professional look at her mind might prevent something like it happening again."

He looked at her for the first time and then back to the gallery, "I'm not asking for her to be set free, she would have murdered Fleur." He went back to his seat where Fleur put her arm around him.

"Those in favor of Ginevra Weasley being taken to St. Mungo's until such time as she is deemed rehabilitated?" Kingsley asked, watching as hands rose into the air. "It is decided. Ginevra Weasley, you will be taken to St. Mungo's under the care of the healers there until you are deemed suitable for transfer to Azkaban." Ginny didn't speak as she was led away from the chamber, sparing only a single, disbelieving glance at Harry as the Aurors walked past with her.

"This session is adjourned." Kingsley said as the crowds began to disperse. Harry and Fleur left the chamber quickly, not willing to be gawked at.

They didn't speak until they were back at Grimmauld Place.

Fleur watched as Harry began to pack clothes into a trunk while sitting on the bed in what had been Sirius' old bedroom. They'd been home for roughly an hour and neither had said anything. She bit her lip before gathering her nerve, "That was a noble thing you did."

Harry laughed softly, "Noble? I had no idea I was going to do it until it happened. It was true though, that was the first Horcrux I ever destroyed. She'd been using a diary Voldemort had turned into a Horcrux which allowed him to possess her. She had him inside her brain for almost an entire year and Dumbledore did nothing."

He looked down at a shirt he had in his hand and then set it aside, "Hopefully she'll get the help she needs." Harry said quietly, "I'm ready to go back to France." He looked older, after the trial than she had ever seen him. Fleur sat down on the edge of the bed putting her hand on his. Harry smiled at that and squeezed her hand.

"My parents will be glad to hear that," Fleur said with a small smile as she looked at their joined hands. "I will speak to my father for you about finding you a job. You were right, just because you were an Auror here does not mean that you will want to be one in France." She leaned against him, enjoying the feel of him against her, "You went straight from fighting Voldemort to becoming an Auror. We should take some time for ourselves before we look at employment."

"It's not like we won't be able to afford it." Harry said squeezing her hand again gently, "We have your place in Paris we can use while we look for a family home after all and the combined Potter and Black vaults minus what I want to give Andromeda in case she doesn't want to come with us."

"Oh?" Fleur replied.

Harry used his free hand to gesture around the room, "I want to give her Grimmauld Place. It has plenty of protections added to it, so she and Teddy don't have to worry about anyone breaking in once she changes the wards. Plus, I want to leave her half of the Black vault."

"You are a very generous man, Harry Potter," Fleur said moving and kissing his cheek. She looked into his eyes and then rested her forehead against his. Harry's arms slid around her and they sat there in silence.

A silence that was interrupted by a silvery falcon that appeared in the room. The voice of Peter Lalaurie came from it sounding pleased, "Fleur, Bill Weasley used a Gringotts elf to deliver the papers a few minutes ago. Everything is signed and will be filed in the morning." The falcon vanished leaving the two in stunned silence.

"It had to be Mr. Weasley." Harry said after a moment, "He must have said something to him about the trial."

"He signed the papers after you saved his sister from Azkaban?" Fleur asked him.

Harry shrugged, "Either that or he signed the papers because he doesn't want Gringotts thinking he was freelancing. I've heard that the goblins don't like it when their employees go off and get clients of their own."

Fleur nodded at that, "They do not. At the very least he would be discharged. If they found that the freelance job would have earned a significant amount of gold, then he could have faced worse than that." When she had started at Gringotts she'd learned the punishments that could occur if an employee cost Gringotts money or time. It wasn't pretty ranging from merely being fired and blacklisted, to losing a literal pound of flesh. Her mentor had shown her a scar on his arm from when, as a young Goblin, he'd been struck by his own mentor for going through his files too slowly.

"Either way, it doesn't matter. You're free now." Harry said smiling at her, "We're free."

She hugged him tightly, "We are. We should celebrate."

Harry looked at her, "Oh, and how would you like to do that?"

Fleur kissed him before responding, "Let's go invite Andromeda to dinner. We can tell her the good news and see if she wishes to come with us to France or if she would like to stay at Grimmauld Place."

Harry broke from the embrace and rose from the bed. "I'll go down to the fireplace and ask her now." As he left the room Fleur watched him for a moment before rising. A tension she'd had since knowing she wanted to divorce Bill had lifted making her feel lighter than she had in what felt like years. _We are free…_ Fleur thought happily as she began to select an outfit for dinner.

"Andromeda, are you home?" Harry called kneeling into the green flames of the kitchen fireplace and looking into the Tonks home.

"Harry, is that you?" Andromeda came around the corner looking somewhat harried. In her arms was a squirming Teddy, who was sporting a shock of red hair and looked as if he'd been crying. "How was the trial? I wanted to come but Teddy isn't feeling well today."

"Is he sick?"

"Teething." Andromeda said indicating a small blue circle she was holding in her free hand. She gave it to Teddy who began to chew on it. "How did the trial go?"

Harry told her about the trial. Andromeda looked at him and then nodded, "That sounds like something you would do." She laughed softly, "You were, after all, the man who tried to get Voldemort to surrender."

"I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with us. Fleur and I want to talk with you about something." Harry said, "But if Teddy isn't feeling well, we can reschedule."

Teddy chomped happily, his hair back to its normal cheerful blue. Andromeda looked at him, "I think he'll be alright as long as I keep a chilling charm on his teething ring. Where did you want to meet?"

"Here at Grimmauld Place, say at six?" Harry said, "Can you ask Tonks and Remus to come to this frame as well? We kind of want the whole family with us."

Andromeda nodded, "You are being very mysterious." She said with a smile, "But I will be there." They said their goodbyes and Harry pulled his head from the fireplace.

As he did so, he found Fleur standing there, dressed in a set of light blue robes. "Have a good chat?" She asked him as she watched Harry brush soot from his knees. "Will Andromeda be joining us?"

Harry nodded, "Teddy is teething, so he's been a bit upset. I also asked her to have Remus and Tonks come into their frame here. I want to talk to all of them." He looked at her robes, "I like the outfit. It's the same shade you were wearing when we met at Hogwarts."

She smiled, "Of course you would remember those robes." Fleur teased him, "I don't quite fit into those…" Fleur's voice took on a teasing lilt, "But perhaps I might slip them on for special occasions." She giggled at the look on the face of her lover as he imagined that.

"You may be the death of me after all," Harry said pulling her into an embrace and a kiss. "But what a way to go."


End file.
